


A Grimm Grimm World

by UnderZeWeather



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Additional Tags to Be Added, Everyone is a wesen, Grimm AU, I don't know how tags work, M/M, Slow Burn, additional notes inside
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-01-09 18:26:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 48
Words: 132,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12282033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnderZeWeather/pseuds/UnderZeWeather
Summary: After many years of hunting the monsters that lurk in the dark, Robert moves from Boston to Maple Bay in an unofficial retirement. However, old friends, new neighbours, unspoken secrets, and the thrill of the hunt are stopping him from achieving the blissfully mundane existence the sleepy sea side town promised.





	1. Old Friends

**Author's Note:**

> This was an AU my girlfriend and I made up one day because we both enjoy the TV series Grimm, and thought it would be funny if the local cryptid hunter actually was a damn cryptid hunter. So here's some useful terminology so you all know what's what.
> 
> Grimm; A person who is able to see the true form of a wesen even if they do not want them to. They hunt wesen to protect normal humans from this unseen threat
> 
> Wesen; (pronounced Ves-sin) is a collective term to describe creatures visible to Grimms. They are the creatures from fairy tales, myths and legends. Can recognise a Grimm when they look into their eyes.
> 
> Woge; (pronounced Voge) is the action of changing between Wesen and human forms.
> 
> Fuchsbau; (Fooks-Bow) a fox-like wesen. Generally deemed as liars in the wesen community but are loyal to their friends. Frightened by Grimms but will work with them once assured the Grim means them no harm.

Moving to Maple Bay hadn’t been his idea. It had actually been his daughter Val’s idea. The two of them had a very rocky relationship that he had thought was never going to get fixed. Especially when she had found him in his apartment a few weeks ago; drunk out of his mind and hardly functioning. She had yelled at him, scolded him, told him that he was complete trash and that staying in Boston was slowly killing him.

He didn’t have the strength to disagree with her on any front. The past few years had been poisonous to him. He couldn’t remember one night when he hadn’t ended up looking at the bottom of a whisky bottle. Hell, he hadn’t even remembered the last time he actually went outside without the intention to get drunk. Val was right. She was always right.

So that’s how Robert found himself moving boxes of things into his new home with Betsy. The Boston terrier had simply jumped up on the couch and watched him move his boxes, occasionally voicing her opinion as to where he should put each box. Robert was just glad that the house seemed to be Betsy approved. He couldn’t remember the last time he had actually lived in a proper house in the suburbs.

He patted Betsy a few times before going to get the last and arguably most important thing from his truck; an old leather trunk. It was some ancient thing with several compartments both inside and out, passed down through his family for decades. As soon as he pulled it inside, Betsy jumps from her vantage point and raced over, giving the musty old thing a few good sniffs.

“Down girl,” he muttered in a gruff voice. Robert dragged it upstairs and into the spare room directly across from his own. He quickly flipped open the locks and wrenched open the heavy lid. Inside were a variety of weapons ranging from small knives to a giant gun that needed some assembly to be used.

Betsy immediately shoved her face in and pulled out a bottle of green powder. She looked very pleased to Robert’s attention, even if it was just for him to snatch the bottle out of her mouth.

“That’s not for Betsy’s to eat,” he warned her. “I’ll set your bowl up in a bit girl. Go and patrol the perimeter.” The dopy dog barked at him and quickly skittered off. The reward of food for keeping the house safe was more than enough motivation for her.

Smiling a little, Robert pulled a small book out of one of the pockets lining the lid and quickly flipped through it to make sure that there were still empty pages in it. Inside were drawings of monsters and notes he had meticulously taken down while he was out hunting. It was hard to explain but he was able to see monsters. Normal people couldn’t see them but their existence had inspired many fairy tales, legends and folklore from many cultures. His father had been very brief about them and painted them all in a bad light, but Robert had seen them slightly differently. He had even befriended a fox-like monster when he was younger who had helped him out on a few hunts.

He stopped on the page he wrote about her, grinning at his badly scribbled picture; pointed ears through wild thick hair, fox-like eyes and pointed canines. He even got a little fancy and had drawn her wearing her punk 80s leather jacket. Robert even got a little chuckle out of the notes he had written about her.

Met this woman at a collage bar called the Rooster and Kitty. She asked me for a drink before she realised I could see what she really was. Instead of freaking out she stayed and we talked for hours. Turns out pop’s a bit of a racist and these “monsters” call themselves wesen. Oops. This particular wesen says she’s called a fuchsbau. I asked her if she’s help me keep an eye out for any dangerous wesen around. She said she’d help me if I bought her a drink. I like her. Should also note she called the change a woge. What the heck is with all the German terms?

He wondered what she was up to these days. Probably still hanging around bars and getting people to buy her drinks. Drinks. Drinking. Alcohol. He needed a drink. She shoved the book into his jacket pocket and headed down to the kitchen. Before he went out bar hunting he had to make sure Betsy had food and water. Even if that food was just dry dog food. He’d get her something better tomorrow.

Despite the sun starting to set Robert instinctively put on his sunglasses before setting one foot outside. The fushabau had told him that if he ever wanted to go undetected by other wesen that he would need to wear sunglasses or coloured contacts. Robert’s eyes gave him away, and in a new town with new people he wasn’t going to risk any of them knowing he could see them until he was damn prepared for it.

As he walked the streets he made a quick mental map and hoped he didn’t get too smashed and forgot his new address. It took a little while, but eventually his feet lead him to a tiny dive bar called Jim and Kim’s. He walked inside and carefully surveyed his surroundings. The place was small and dimly lit, he could hear the crack of pool balls in the furthest parts of the bar as patrons laugh and joke, and a strong or multi-coloured Christmas lights hovered above the bartender. It was official, Robert loved this place. He could tell he was doing to be spending a lot of time here.

He pulled up a seat at the bar and ordered a shot of whisky from the bartender before he even asked what he wanted. He sipped his drink and looked up at the horrendously out of date TV on the wall. He had no idea what sport was on or who was playing, but it was nice not to think.

“Hey there sailor,” crooned a sultry female voice. Robert quickly looked over at the middle-aged woman sitting next to him. She had a nearly-empty wine glass in her hand yet somehow still had an air of elegance to her. She was pretty easy on the eyes too, the only things putting him off were the crucifix around her neck and the wedding ring on her finger. “Nice to see some fresh meat in here. I’m Mary. You just moved in, right?”

Robert couldn’t help but smile a little at this Mary. There was something about her that seemed very familiar to him, but he just couldn’t quite place it. “Yeah. Guess you like to spy on the new guys. Which house do you live in?”

“The gaudy one with the anchor on it,” she muttered with a slight bitterness in her tone. She quickly polished off the rest of her drink and smiled sweetly at him. “Buy a gal a drink, new boy?”

She didn’t seem that drunk and had clearly done this sort of thing before, so Robert waved the bartender over and ordered Mary another glass of wine. She talked with him for a while and Robert learned that the bartender was neither Jim nor Kim. He was Neil. Once Neil had moved away to serve someone else, Robert decided to grill Mary for information of the town of Maple Bay.

“So tell me, Mary-” he started. “-what’s this place like? Not as busy as the big city?”

She shrugged and sipped her wine. “It’s pretty quiet here. It’s just a small idyllic place with its white picket fences. But every town has its secrets.”

“Secrets you say? Like what? Do I have to buy you another glass of wine?”

“Maybe you could tell me your name, or is that a big secret?”

“I’m Robert,” he said. “Now what’s this big secret?”

She sipped her drink, looking at him with a sceptical eye. “I think you’ve got bigger secrets then me sailor. Look at you, wearing sunglasses inside at night. You know what you look like right?”

“A real asshole?”

“Hit the nail in one.”

“I misplaced my glasses in the move. These are my prescription sunglasses.”

“You still look like an asshole.”

Robert shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. People usually leave the weirdo in sunglasses alone.”

“Very true.” She sighed a little, resting her now empty wine glass on the bar. “So what miserable life choices have brought you to Maple Bay? Hell, what god of misfortune dropped you in the cul-de-sac?”

“Excuse me?”

She chuckled at him, a tired expression now painted as plain as day on her face. “Take it from me Robert, apart from me and my sorry excuse for a husband, there’s no one but single dads living in the cul-de-sac. I have half a mind to think my God fearing husband’s been dipping his toes into some shitty black magic again.”

Now things were getting interesting. “Again?”

“He had a life before he sold his soul to the church and became a… youth minister…” Mary wrinkled her nose at that remark. “Unfortunately I am just jesting at that black magic remark. He’d probably flip at that mention of his younger days before his daddy got grumpy and whipped him into a proper upstanding man.” Her sentence ended with a small growl and slight roll of her head. 

To Robert’s amazement he watched Mary’s human form slip momentarily as she woged. Her peachy skin was quickly enveloped in a thin layer of orange fur with a large white patch on her face and neck, her canines sharpened ever so slightly and her eyes, nose and ears became more fox like. She was only like that for a moment, but Robert instantly knew who and what she was.

“No fucking way. Thought I recognised you,” he grinned and lowered his sunglasses. “Rooster and Kitty. You got me to buy you some drinks in exchange for your help with a little wesen problem.”

Mary stared at him in shock and woged again. This time she looked deep into his eyes and jumped slightly before her own grin spread across her face and she woged back into her human form. “Oh shit! You’re that Robert! How long has it been?”

“Too long. Never expected to run into you again, and you’re married. What the hell happened there?”

“I was stupid and fell in love with a right bastard,” she claimed. “But Rob, seriously, what are you, a Grimm, doing here in Maple Bay?” 

Robert had never really liked the name Grimm before. I preferred hunter or slayer. However one couldn’t simply change hundreds of years of tradition at the drop of a hat. “Would you believe I have gone into semi-retirement? I haven’t hunted any bad wesen in years. Thought I could relax a little and spook off any smaller bastards that annoy me. Usual stuff.”

“Sounds boring as hell,” muttered Mary. “Can I hire you to bitch slap a bitch for old time’s sake? I know one God fearing asshole that needs one hell of a back hand.”

Robert really liked Mary, despite her not being completely human. “So what’s your husband’s name?”

“Joseph.”

“… Wait, so you’re Mary, he’s Joseph, and you’re both Christians?”

“Oh the irony.” She tilted her head back and attempted to get the last drop of red from her wine glass. “Trust me, I know. Get over it… Get me another drink Bobert?”

“… Don’t call me Bobert.” He called Neil over and ordered another shot of whisky for himself. Mary was intoxicated enough. 

However Mary stole his whisky and downed it in one. “Anyway, you got some more pressing matters at hand. Why did you choose to live in this particular cul-de-sac in Maple Bay?”

“What do you mean?” Asked Robert. “I didn’t track you down or anything if that’s what you’re thinking. I didn’t even know you were living on this side of the country.”

Mary sighed a little and shook her head. “Oh Robert… My poor, sweet, stupid, stupid Robert… You just moved into a cul-de-sac overflowing with wesen.”

“… What?”

She burst out laughing, causing a few heads to turn. “Oh boy, you are thoroughly fucked with a sandpaper covered cactus my friend. I just can’t believe it… Robert, all your neighbours are wesen. They are all fathers to one or more young kids. Grimm’s kind of have a reputation among us wesen as people who slaughter entire families. If any of them find out you’re a Grimm they are going to fucking slaughter you. It’ll be like dropping a lamb into a pen of hungry lions.”

“…” Robert immediately called Neil over for another drink. Moving into a small wesen community was not what he wanted. He did not plan for this situation. “Perfect. I’m dead. I’m alive but I’m dead.”

“Aw, don’t be like that sailor,” she purred as she patted him on the back. “Mary will help you out so you don’t get murdered in the first week. Second week though, you’re on your own. Most important thing you have to do is keep those sunglasses on. All the adults are pretty good at controlling their woge, but those kids… You know how crazy your body gets when you hit puberty. The little bastards are woging all over the place.”

Robert cringed. “Wonderful… Teenagers…” Teenagers were strange to him at the best of times, but wesen teens were the worst. They couldn’t control their emotions and would woge all the time over the smallest things. Woging wasn’t the worst thing a wesen could do. Most of the time normal humans didn’t even register it but there were times when a wesen wouldn’t be able to control their woge and that’s how people came up with all manner of fairy tales and legends about humans transforming into monsters.

“I know. But they’re good kids deep down… You just have to look really, really, really deep down-” She grabbed one of the bar napkins and quickly started to scribble something down. “-and then you got to look even deeper down because they pissed you off, but you forgive them because they also pissed off Joseph.” She slid the napkin over to Robert and grinned. “This should help you a little.”

Robert looked at the scribbles, surprised to see Mary had drawn him a map of the cul-de-sac. Starting from the bottom left where the street went into the cul-de-sac there was; Mario Batali, Kale, Coffee Dad, Empty house, Mary’s Sick Pad, Small’s, Dames, and Nerd’s House. He would have preferred it if she had written down what kind of wesen they were.

“So… Tell me a little about these people. Am I really supposed to believe that Mario Batali, the fucking chef lives in the cul-de-sac?”

Mary giggled. “Nah, Brian just looks a hell of a lot like him, but his beard is bushier, and I don’t know if he’s really into Italian cooking.”

“Kale?”

“Craig. Speaks like a frat boy but the body of an Olympic athlete. He sticks to his exercise routines like his life depends on it. You’ll catch him going for morning or night runs most days.”

“Right… and Coffee Dad?”

“Mat. Makes the best coffee in the fucking universe. He runs this shop called The Coffee Spoon. Everything on the menu has some weird quirky name though. But the coffee and banana bread is so worth it.”

“I’ll make a note next time I need to get caffeinated.” Looking at the map, Robert skipped over Empty house, Mary’s Sick Pad, and of course his own. “Dames?”

“Damien is my special boy and I will cut your balls off and stuff them down your throat if you even think about trying anything on him. He’s practically my brother.”

Robert rolled his eyes. “Whatever…”

Mary grabbed his arm and looked dead into his eyes. “Robert, I am being serious. I will murder you if anything happens to Damien. If he finds out you’re a Grimm and you have to kill him to save your own life, I will kill you. Of all the wesen in the cul-de-sac, he is off limits.”

He shook himself free from her, frowning at her sudden hostility. “Alright, I’ll stay away from Damien. No need to start growling at me… And Nerd’s House?”

“That’s Hugo. He’s a middle school teacher… And his son is both the highlight and bane of my existence… He set Joseph on fire once.”

“… Is playing with fire a hint about what kind of wesen he is or is he just an arsonist?”

“Arsonist.” Mary slowly pulled herself to her feet, wobbling a little. “I should be getting home… Walk a gal home Robert?”

In all honesty, Robert wanted to keep drinking. However, Mary didn’t look like she could walk home on her own. So he reluctantly got up and helped her out the door. Under the cover of night Robert dared to take off his sunglasses so he could actually see where he was going, and Mary woged once again. She was never good at controlling her woge with a few drinks under her belt.

“You actually going to tell me what kind of wesen are living in the cul-de-sac?” He asked her. “I don’t want to guess.”

Mary scoffed at him. “Guess? What kind of Grimm are you Mr Small? I remember you once stalked a group of punk rockers because you thought they were Geier but they were actually were Gelumcaedus.”

Robert rolled his eyes. “Hey, there were several bodies missing their organs found near drain pipes. One would assume it was those vultures and not those alligator bastards.”

“Either way you got your ass kicked.”

“Hey, I’m lucky to be alive. Gator bastards are hard and rip out chunks. One of them literally almost ate my ass.”

That got a laugh out of Mary. “Yeah, I remember. I saved that ass of yours.” She slapped his ass for emphasis. “A needle full of air to his neck and he died like a bitch. I didn’t even get so much as a thanks for saving that fine piece of ass.”

He giggled a little. “Miss Mary, you are a married woman. That is sexual harassment, and a fine upstanding fuchsbau coming onto a Grimm or all people? The scandal. The shame. You’ll be run out of town.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time we toed that line.”

“One too many tequila shots will do that to you.” When they headed back into the cul-de-sac Robert put his sunglasses back on and cautiously walked Mary back to her house. He was now on alert, ready to punch anyone or anything that might jump out at him. Thankfully the few meters to Mary’s sick pad were devoid of any real action. He walked Mary up to the door and watched as she fumbled with her keys.

“It was nice seeing you again Robert,” she slurred slightly. “Next time we go drinking together. Just like old times. Okay?”

“Sure thing foxy lady.”

Mary got a chuckle out of that as she finally put the right key into the lock. “Oh, I should warn you, my husband’s going to invite you to a big old barbeque tomorrow. Bring beer or some Jack Daniels. Everyone else is pretty much covering everything else.”

“Who said I wanted to go to a barbeque?”

“The Grimm in you that wants to find out who your neighbours really are.”

“… Shit, you’re right.”

“Night Robert. I’ll send Joseph over in the afternoon. You should be awake by then, right?”

“Here’s hoping.” He walked back to his place once Mary was safely inside her home. It was hard for him to believe that he had met Mary again let alone find out that the whole cul-de-sac was some kind of wesen haven.

As soon as he got home we went back up to his spare room and started to get to work. He was going to need a corkboard, sticky notes, push pins, and several balls of different coloured wool. Betsy watched him from the doorway and boofed at him. She seemed annoyed that he was not in bed yet. The little dog liked to sleep next to him when he got home late.

He just chuckled at her and patted her head. “Betsy, we have a lot of wesen to take care of.”


	2. The barbeque

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blutbad- (bloot-baad) A wolf-like wesen. Known to be quite vicious and territorial, they show utmost loyalty to their friends and will show unbridled savagery to those they deem a threat to themselves or their family. Largely feared and respected within the wesen community. Likely to attack a Grimm

Despite his best efforts Robert had woken up on the floor of his spare room to the sound of someone knocking at his door. Whoever it was he officially hated them and hoped that they would go away. Unfortunately their knocking had disturbed Betsy who was now nudging Robert’s face and quietly boofing in his ear. So with an aggravated groan Robert walked down to the door, adjusted his sunglasses and quickly put on an expression that screamed; I’m hung over. Go away.

Opening the door he was greeted by a clean-cut blond man wearing an obnoxious pink polo shirt with some blue sweater tied around his neck. He was brandishing a plate of cookies. He looked nice enough, but after talking with Mary, Robert had half a mind to punch him in the face and close the door on this stranger. If he was indeed who he thought he was.

“Hi there,” he said. “I’m Joseph. I’m your next door neighbor.”

Robert raised an eyebrow. So this was Mary’s husband. More than likely he was another fuchsbau like her. From what he had learned over the years about the wesen community they could be very picky, if not brutal when it came to finding their perfect spouse. “I’m Robert.”

Joseph flashed a winning smile at him. “I feel a little bad about not welcoming you to the cul-de-sac yesterday, but you know how work can get, especially when you move in during the middle of the week, so I thought I’d bring over some cookies.” He all but pushed the plate into Robert’s hands. “My daughter Christie helped me bake them, bless her soul.”

“Okay…” Robert didn’t really know what to do. Should he put the plate inside? Should he invite Joseph inside? Should he eat a cookie and compliment him and his daughter’s baking skills? Should he just stand there and keep staring at the plate awkwardly? “I’ll return the plate later… Maybe I’ll give it to Mary when I next see her…”

“Oh, you know my lovely wife?” Asked the blond, slightly surprised. “How did you two meet?”

Robert shrugged. “We met at a bar while she was in college. I was just passing through. We had some good times throwing rocks at things and drinking a lot. Reunited again with her last night at Jim and Kim’s.”

“Ah, I see…” He coughed awkwardly. Robert half expected him to woge and confirm his suspicions that he was another fuchsbau, but he didn’t. Either that awkward cough was for show or he was good at controlling his woge. “Well I hope she didn’t cause you too much trouble. She can get very animated when she hits the bottle.”

“Don’t I know it.” Even Robert had to admit that sounded a little worse than he had intended it to. However he couldn’t take it back now. He had to live with it.

“Yes, well, anyway… I’m throwing a barbecue for the cul-de-sac this Saturday and I’d love for you to come by and meet everyone else. What do you say pal?”

Joseph was grating on him now. He really didn’t like people giving him nicknames or calling him anything other than Robert. He only let it slide with Mary because they had known each other for a long time. “Don’t call me pal, and if I’m not hung over I might show up. Maybe… Maybe just to return the plate.”

Robert’s negative attitude did nothing to phase Joseph. He just grinned and clapped his hands together. “Wonderful. See you at my place at 3 p.m sharp. If you ever need me for anything and I’m not at home, you can usually catch me at the Church.” And with that Joseph was gone.

“… Alright.” Robert closed the door and looked down at the plate of cookies he had been given. They were probably poisoned. Then again, would Joseph try and kill him off so quickly and easily like this for no reason? Did Mary tell Joseph he was a Grimm? He decided not to risk it and dump the cookies before going out and getting some groceries. Whisky for him, wet dog food for Betsy.

***

Saturday came rather quickly for Robert. He was a little surprised that he hadn’t run into any other people in the neighborhood, then again he was a night owl and when he wasn’t unpacking his boxes, drinking, and taking care of Betsy, he was in his spare room getting everything set up and ready to go once he started to get down to figuring out what wesen his neighbors were. 

Armed with a case of beer and his sunglasses firmly planted on his face he made his way to Joseph’s house. He was immediately greeted by Mary. She already had a glass of wine in her hand. “Finally. If I have to listen to one more grill pun I am going to go and barf of the barbeque.”

“Lettuce not be too hasty there Mary.” He said with a smirk.

Mary glared daggers at him. “Just for that I’m taking your beer. I need it way more than you do.” She walked him into the backyard. Apart from Mary and Joseph there were two other adults that Robert hadn’t met. “The orange bearded guy, that’s Brian,” said Mary. “Dreadlock McGee next to him, that’s Mat.”

“And the others?”

“They’ll show up in a bit.” Mary took a sip of her wine and nudged Robert in the ribs. “Go talk to them. You’re here to mingle and figure out who’s what here right?”

“I’m a people watcher,” said Robert calmly. “I prefer to watch others from a distance.”

Suddenly Joseph was by their side with a huge grin on his face. “Glad you could make it Robert. You already know Mary, let me introduce you to our kids.” 

“No need,” said Mary. She pointed over to the three blond children off in a corner of the yard. “Blue shirt is our eldest, Chris, and then there are the twins, Christian and Christie, and our baby Crish. He’s in his crib chilling.”

Robert felt like he was going to have an aneurism. “Mary, Joseph, and four kids whose names are a variation of Christian… and you are Christians… Lord almighty…”

“Welcome to my Hell.” Muttered Mary.

Joseph laughed awkwardly. “Well hope you enjoy yourself Robert and get to know everyone.” He went back over to the barbeque.

Robert sighed a little and grabbed a beer. In the time he had talked to Mary and Joseph two more dads had turned up with their kids. Mary nudged Robert when they showed up. “Glasses and moustache guy is Hugo. The little shit in orange is his fire bug kid. Cool guy with the cloak; that’s my special boy. Hold my wine. Damien!” She waved over the stereotypically vampire looking man. “Damien, this is Robert. Robert, this is Damien. Play nicely.”

Damien smiled politely at Robert. “It is nice to make your acquaintance. I am Damien Bloodmarch. I do believe we are next door neighbors.”

“I believe so.” Everything about this guy was telling Robert he was some kind of bat or canine wesen. Maybe even a cat wesen. The again, Mary did say he was her brother? So he had to be another fuchsbau. He was beginning to question if he had stumbled into some kind of fuchsbau den. “So your house is the one painted all black and looks like it got ripped right out of Bram Stoker’s Dracula?”

He seems to be taken aback by that statement and starts to woge, but a quick hand on the shoulder by Mary quickly stops that from happening all together. “Hey Dames, you should go and try some of the grilled halloumi. I think Joseph’s just taken it off the grill.” 

“Ah, yes. I think I shall,” muttered Damien rather quickly. “It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance Robert. Perhaps we shall meet in the future?” He quickly walked away.

Robert rolled his eyes and glared at Mary. “Mary, what the hell was that? He was about to do the thing.”

“Damien’s easily flustered. It’s too easy.” She sipped her wine. “Getting Damien to do the thing is like getting a hen to lay an egg. It’s gonna happen sooner or later.”

“Why does it matter?” He asked. “He’s a fuchsbau. Not a big reveal.”

Mary looked confused. “Um, how did you come to that conclusion?”

“You said he was your brother.”

“Practically my brother,” Mary corrected. “Dames ended up living with me and my family when he was like seven… There was a very, very Grimm incident that caused his family to stop living.”

“… Oh.”

“If you fuck yourself with a cactus you’ll know the bare minimum of pain you will suffer if Dames ever finds out about you. He knows what your kind do and will not hesitate to kill you to protect his son. The kid with all the metal in his face.” 

Robert looked over at the teen dressed in black and grey. He was talking with the kid in the orange hoodie. He suspected that they were planning something. Whatever they were planning he hoped that it didn’t involve him or fire. He had enough to deal with without angsty teens pulling angsty pranks on him. If they did he had no problem scaring the shit out of them.

“Go talk to the other dads you weirdo,” whined Mary. “You’re not gonna get to know anyone if you just stand around and say nothing. What do you have to fear? You have like, twenty knives on you, right?”

“Yes mother,” he muttered. The dads had seemed to all congregate around the barbeque. It was like moths to a flame. It made him question if it was possible to make a dad trap with a barbeque and a few stakes grilling all nice on there. He could probably catch ten dads with one grill, but knowing himself, if he happened to start drinking during his stake out he was going to end up trapping himself.

He walked over and stood by Joseph with his arms folded and a scowl plastered across his face. Before anyone else could say anything, Joseph patted Robert on the back, almost knocking off his sunglasses in the process, Robert quickly caught them and put them back on. “Hey guys, so this is Robert. I’m sure you noticed he just moved in. Be nice to him, okay? Ha, ha.”

“Welcome to the neighborhood,” said Hugo. “Been a while since anyone new has moved in. How are you liking Maple Bay?”

“It’s alright,” answered Robert. “It’s quiet. Don’t have to watch my back that much anymore.”

“Watch your back?” Questioned Mat.

Robert shrugged. “Yeah. Ran into a spot of trouble up in Boston. Let’s just say the Russian mafia doesn’t look too kindly on people cutting into their black market organ trade. Not my fault if I could get fresh hearts and livers and lungs straight to the operating table in minutes.” He wanted to provoke a reaction from them to see if any of them would get overly emotional and woge. Some of them rippled a little but they didn’t fully woge just yet.

“He’s such a joker,” said Joseph with a charming grin on his face. “He has the same kind of humor as my darling wife… By the way has anyone seen Craig? It isn’t like him to be late to a barbeque.”

Almost as if on cue a beast raced into the back yard with a baby strapped to his chest and two girls gripping onto his arms for dear life. The man was covered from head to toe in course black hair, his nails were thick and pointed like claws, canines jutting out of his wolfish face and his eyes were a bright blood red. He stood there panting heavily for a moment before he woged back into his human form. This seemed to be a normal occurrence or the adults here had seen Craig woge enough times that seeing him like that didn’t even raise an eyebrow.

He grinned and lowered his arms so the girl’s feet were on the ground. “Bro, sorry we’re late. The girls and I went for a jog but we totally messed up the time. Little dudes and I had no idea we were late until I could smell that sweet, sweet barbeque.” He walked over the dads and grinned at Robert. “Sup bro? You must be the new guy. I’m Craig.”

“Hey, I’m Robert… Who’s your passenger?”

Craig looked down at his baby and adjusted her beanie. “This little dude? This is my littlest bro River. Say hi to Robert.” He gently waved River’s arm while she stuffed her fist into her mouth. Even Robert had to admit that was kind of cute.

However he would not be distracted by the cute infant for very long. Craig was some kind of wolf wesen. He would need to observe him a bit more, but he was pretty sure that Craig was blutbad. They were responsible for most stereotypes associated with werewolves in movies and folklore; vicious, carnivorous, and would hunt their prey to the ends of the earth and back. They were also very loyal to their friends and very fast and strong when woged.

Everything went pretty smoothly after that. All the dads were talking about their kids, and work. Normal dad stuff. It almost irked Robert at how normal everyone seemed to be compared to him, and they were all some kind of wesen. He threw in his opinion every now and then or whenever someone asked him a question.

After a while the burgers were ready and the dads seemed to break off into their own little groups to talk about whatever it was they were interested in talking about. Robert stood away from everyone and observed. Truth be told he had never knowingly been in the presence of so many wesen at once, heck he had never seen so many wesen children in one place.

It seemed as though the children were playing some kind of combination of tag and hide n seek. Mary’s daughter was in and currently chasing Matt’s daughter around the backyard while Craig’s girls jumped from their hiding spot and quickly ran for the swing set. They laughed and cheered when they reached it, yelling out “Bar” when they did so.

Mary nudged Robert and offered him a beer. “Creeping on our kids now?”

“Just trying to figure out what they are playing.”

“It’s surprisingly complicated,” said Mary. “It’s a bizarre combination of tag, hide n seek, stuck in the mud and octopus.”

“What?”

Mary rolled her eyes. “Tag, one person is in and they tag other people so they are the one who is in. Hide n seek, everyone hides one person find them. Stuck in the mud, once you get tagged you’re stuck in place until someone crawls through your legs. Octopus, once you’re tagged you’re stuck in your place and can tag whoever you can touch without moving your legs. Don’t ask me how or why they came up with something so weird.”

“Games were simpler back in my day. Did you know hide n seek was a game made to teach kids how to hunt?”

“Yep.”

“You’re no fun.”

“I’ve heard all your stories before Small,” she reminded him. “Talk to me when you come up with something new and a little more interesting.”

“… Ever tell you about the time I punched Krampus in the face?”

“Lies.”

“Okay, I kicked him in the balls and beat him with a pool cue.”

“That sounds more like your style.”

Robert was about to launch into how Krampus had burst through the window of a bar he was at last Christmas and how the second it saw him and knew he was a Grimm it attacked him. However that was quickly changed when he heard one of the kids getting into an argument. Looking over it was Hugo’s kid and Damien’s kid.

Robert had no idea what they were arguing about, but he could tell it was quickly getting heated. Suddenly the kid in the orange hoodie rolled his head sharply and woged; his body quickly became covered in short grey hair, apart from his mouth which was black, his nose became more of a bull snout and he developed a small pair of curved horns just above his bovine-like ears.

“Ernest!” Snapped Hugo.

“What?!” He snapped back at his dad.

Hugo just gave him the look. Everyone knows the look. It’s the parental nonverbal warning look. The kind that says they are going to beat your dumb ass if you keep doing what you are doing. Within seconds Ernest woges back and retreats into his hoodie with a few angry grumbles.

Robert chuckled a little and nudged Mary. “So those guys are some kind of bull or ox thing? If they continued their little spat would metal face have woged too?”

Mary rolled her eyes. “You better hope Lucien doesn’t woge around you… or when he does he keeps his damn mouth shut. Poor kid has trouble controlling his volume when he changes… My ears are still ringing from the first time he woged and freaked out.”

“… What did he do?”

“Freaked out and shattered everything made of glass in Damien’s house.” Mary shuddered a little. “I tell you, there are woge freak outs and then there are woge freak outs…”

“… So what is he?”

“Nice try. I gave you more than enough clues.” She finished up her wine and frowned at the bottom of it. “Never enough wine… Oh, you like sweet things, right Robert? I still remember that one time we had a whole cheesecake for dinner on that stake out.”

“Don’t remind me, I never want to eat cheesecake again…”

“There’s a bake sale up at the church tomorrow. Swing by and give me your money.”

“I don’t want any cookies though…”

“Never told you buy stuff. Just give me your money.”

Robert rolled his eyes and went back to observing everyone. There were no other woge incidents as far as he could tell and the barbeque ended rather nicely. He was able to slip away without anyone asking him to help clean up and had actually managed to sneak away with a sausage, for Betsy of course. The pooch deserved something for holding down the fort while he was away.

Betsy was pleased to receive her reward and ate it happily while watching Robert stick notes on his corkboard and look through his books. Apart from his own note book about wesen he had another one from one of his long dead relatives. It was much more detailed than his own works so he found it useful.

He looked down at Betsy once he was done and grinned. “Alright, so this is what I’ve got so far; Mary is a fuchsbau and lives with her fuchsbau husband and four kids. They are relatively harmless and will stay that way since they don’t go around and murder people every other day. Got that?”

“Bork!”

“Good.” He pointed to a picture of dumbbells. “Craig is a blutbad. He seems really chill, but they are kind of known for murdering things… He has three kids and we need to keep a very close eye on him when we’re out hunting. You’re my eyes, ears and nose out there at night Betsy. I trust you won’t let me down.”

“Bork!”

“Good girl.” He then pointed to a poorly drawn bat with a question mark next to it. “The Bloodmarch’s… Have no idea what they are but they apparently have some kind of supersonic screech ability when woged… They are potential a bat wesen or some other nocturnal guy.” 

Betsy sneezed and lied down.

“Bless you.” He then pointed to a pair of crudely drawn glasses. “Hugo and his kid are cow types. I can’t actually tell what they are because I only saw the kid woge and he had little baby horns. I need to see Hugo woge to see if he has tiny baby horns or big fuck off horns. Also, no closer to finding out what Brian and Mat are… But it’s a start, right?”

“Bork!” Betsy had rolled onto her side and looked up at her human dad, waging her tail excitedly.

“… Stop trying to be so cute. I have no more sausages to give to you.”

“Bork?!” Betsy was both shocked and disgusted.


	3. The Bake Sale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ziegevolk; (tsee-gah-folk) A goat-like wesen. A generally meek wesen that are considered lovers and not fighters. They produce mind/emotional altering pheromones through their sweat glands and can produce more pheromones by eating live amphibians. They use their pheromones to lure and seduce potential victims. They greatly fear Grimms.
> 
> Also, editing is a bitch when you don't know how to and your internet keeps dying on you. This was the best I could do :/

Much to Robert’s surprise and almost dread he had gotten a barrage of texts from his daughter on his way to the bake sale. Especially after how angry she was with him the last time they had spoken. But she was his daughter and for some reason she still cared about him. He half suspected it was because Val was a Grimm too and they didn’t know any other Grimms living in Boston. Arguably it was one of the worst things she inherited from him.

**From Val ******  
Hey dad. How is Maple Bay?  
I’m surprised you actually moved that far away.  
I’m proud of you.  
Meet any the local wesen yet?  
More like “scare” Am I right?  
You have a scary face.  
Especially when you’re grumpy and or hung over.  
If you’re hung over now I make no apologies for waking you up. 

******To Val**  
I’m doing alright.  
Met a few local wesen.  
Turns out I’m living in a cul de sac full of them.  
You ever heard of a wesen that has a supersonic screech? 

Robert wasn’t very good at acting like a proper father to Val, but they could talk Grimm business quite well. He’d pass on as much of his wisdom as he could to her to protect her. That was the least he could do for her. Maybe someday they could have a conversation that didn’t end with them talking business or ended with her screaming at him. However, today was not that day. 

******From Val**  
Supersonic screech?  
Sounds like some kind of bat wesen.  
How sonic are we talking?  
Shatter glass screech or eyes popping and organ rupturing screech?

********

******To Val**  
My source says glass shattering.  
I don’t know if this helps but I think this guy is a vegetarian.  
Saw him and his kid eating a veggy burger at the BBQ yesterday.  
Suppressing their natural bloodlust? 

******From Val**  
99% of bat wesen don’t drink human blood if that’s where you’re going with this.  
They usually go after small animals.  
Cats and dogs.  
They aren’t super strong even when woged.  
But all of them can rip out your throat with their teeth.  
Knowing your luck it’s going to be a blood drinking wesen.  
I’ll text you when I find out more about this supersonic screech.  
Don’t get bitten.  
You’ll send them into some kind of alcohol induced coma 

******To Val ** ********  
I’m too smart for that.  


********

**************** ** ** ** **

********

He couldn’t help but chuckle at little. It seemed very on the nose that Damien was a bat wesen, dressed like he came out of a Victorian novel, and even had the last name Bloodmarch. He might as well have been called himself Batty McBatson and be done with it. Just for a laugh he texted Val one more time.

******To Val**  
Look up anything about the Bloodmarch family.  
That’s the family name of the potential bat wesen. 

******From Val**  
WTF?  
Seriously?  
Why?  
WTF?  
g2g ttyl 

Robert pocketed his phone and felt a small knot forming in the pit of his stomach. It was way too easy to talk to her about Grimm stuff but he acted like a deer in the headlights as soon as any of his fatherly duties came up. He was a damn good Grimm, but he was a shitty father. He tried to push those thoughts out of his head as he got into view of church. He could clearly smell the baked goods long before he crossed the threshold onto church grounds.

There were a few pop-up tents and fold-out tables already set up and covered with baked goods. There was a handful of people and their kids walking around. Robert could see Christie and Christian running around near a table that Mary was stationed closets to the church car park.

As soon as Mary saw him she smiled. “Hey their sailor. Nice to see you actually showed up. I knew you had a sweet tooth. Now give me your wallet. I’m robbing you.”

“Nice try foxy-lady.” He looked at the baked goods she was being forced to sell and bought a cupcake, since he was there. “Anyway, I did a lot of research last night. Hugo and his kid are either Taureus-Armenta, or Heftiguroch. But I’m not sure. I only saw Ernest’s baby horns. Need to see Hugo woge before I make the final call. Either way I need to invest in some kind of cattle prod.”

Mary grinned at him. “Nice. The Vega’s are one of those two. Not bad Mister Grimm. Got any idea about the others?”

“Well, I’ve all but confirmed that Damien’s a bat wesen. Mat and Brian on the other hand… I’m not too sure, and Craig was kind of obvious running in like that.”

Mary rolled her eyes. “You sir are useless. Mat and Brian on the other hand,” she said in a mocking tone. “How long do you think it will be until you’re found out?”

“By the time that happens I plan to know what everyone is, how to kill them and have barricaded myself in my house.” Robert bought another cupcake. Who made these? Why were they so good? Did someone put a little something extra in them? Just enough to make people hungry and come back for more? Were these crack cupcakes? Did Mary get him hooked on crack?

Mary snapped her fingers in front of Robert’s face. “Hey! Did you hear me?”

“What?”

“I asked you to go and get Joseph out of his damn office and get his lazy ass out here,” she said. “I can’t leave my post. There’s a free cookie in it if you do.”

Robert rolled his eyes at her. “Do I even look like I know where his office is? Why can’t you look for him while I take over?”

“Because you are a scary bastard and I also need to keep an eye on my kids.” Mary helped herself to a cookie. “Look, you just need to walk in through the back door and knock on the first office door that says Youth Minister in fancy gold lettering. I’ll buy the first round of drinks tonight if you do.”

Alcohol was going to forever be his weakness. “Fine…” He walked around to the back of the church with his hands buried deep in his pockets. Around the back of the church was a small frog pond absolutely teaming with a variety of different kinds of frogs and toads. It was a little odd to Robert but he just went with it. He had seen stranger things before.

Going through the back door of the church it was easy for Robert to Joseph’s office. It wasn’t unlocked so Robert just opened it. “Hey-“ 

Robert had to stop himself, he was just too thrown off by what he was seeing. Joseph had woged, but he wasn’t a foxy fuchsbau like Mary was. He wasn’t even a canine wesen. He was some kind of goat wesen. He had the small horns on his forehead and the beard on his chin and everything. This wouldn’t normally stop Robert in his tracks, but the fact that the second he opened the door, Joseph had dropped a live toad into his mouth and swallowed it kind of freaked him out a little.

Joseph on the other hand was cool, calm and collected. He even smiled at Robert’s stunned expression. “Don’t be so shocked Robert. Did you really think I was a fuchsbau like my lovely wife?”

“I um… what?” Robert wasn’t normally confronted by other wesen like this. He decided to play it off like he just saw Joseph swallowing the toad and nothing else. He didn’t even know Joseph knew he was a Grimm. He highly doubted that Mary told him. He briefly wondered how much trouble he would be in if he stabbed Joseph and ran. “What are you talking about? You just swallowed a toad! A live toad! What the hell?”

Joseph rolled his eyes and slowly approached Robert. For some reason Robert found himself unable to move away from this goat wesen. “Do we really need to do this song and dance a second time? Just hold still for me. Don’t move a muscle.” He reached up and removed Robert’s sunglasses with little to no protest from the other.

Robert had no idea why his body didn’t move when Joseph got close or when he removed his sunglasses. Heck he didn’t even know what Joseph meant when he asked about doing this song and dance again. Had he met Joseph before? It was possible. He had met many weird wesen in his life. But if Joseph knew he was a Grimm why didn’t he mention anything earlier? Had he killed someone Joseph knew? Was this a revenge thing? It was probably a revenge thing.

Joseph just smiled at him as he stared deep into his eyes. “Ah yes, the eyes of a Grimm, just as black and depressing as I remember them. I guess it’s for the best that you don’t remember anything about me and those two months I spent in Boston with you on my yacht… Then again prolonged skin contact with one of my kind tends to cause some very vivid hallucinations. Maybe you completely lost your memory of those nights?”

“… What the hell are you talking about Joseph?” Robert did not like where this was going. There was now a fifty, fifty chance that this was that this was a revenge thing, and a fifty, fifty chance they had fucked.

The blond sighed a little and woged back to his normal clean-cut self. “Robert, I must say I am really shocked you remember nothing. You’re a Grimm for crying out loud, you’re meant to be made of tougher stuff than a normal human… I’m a Ziegevolk. You know, a Bluebeard? At least tell me you remember the tattoo I gave you. Please, show me your hands.”

With very little resistance, Robert showed Joseph his hands. His head was starting to feel a little foggy, like he had drunk one too many whiskeys. It was only getting worse the longer he was standing close to Joseph. Was he getting drunk off some weird wesen pheromone he was giving off? Was it his eyes? Could they hypnotise him? It was possible. Robert hardly even noticed when Joseph took hold of his tattooed hand and almost lovingly traced his thumb over it. The skin contact was making his head swim.

“I must admit I was a bit bold putting something like this on your body… But you should understand it was just me being overly cautious. Bedding a Grimm was something I never really thought was physically possible for a wesen to do since we tend to woge when we climax and some Grimm’s kill on sight.”

“… We did what now?” It was official. They fucked.

“Be a good boy and don’t scream.” Suddenly Joseph pressed his thumb into the tattoo and a sharp pain raced up Robert’s arm. He doubled over in pain and clutched his shoulder. It felt like his arm was being ripped out of its socket. He tried to scream out in pain but nothing came out. Not even a whimper. As quickly as the pain was there it was gone the moment Joseph let his hand go. “Oops… Guess that old magic stuff really doesn’t wear off even after all these years.”

The pain was enough to snap Robert out of whatever spell Joseph had him under and he jumped back, swiping back his sunglasses. “What the fuck was that?”

“Language Robert. You’re in a house of god.” He stepped closer to Robert and once again his head started to go foggy. “Just calm down and enjoy the bake sale. Maybe buy a few boxes of cupcakes or cookies? It would really help us out. What do you say?”

His head was getting too foggy again and it was hard to think. He just knew Joseph was starting to sound nice and he didn’t really feel like thinking anymore. “Sure… Sounds good to me.”

Joseph smiled and helped him put his sunglasses back on. “That’s good to hear. I have a plate of brownies with your name on it Robert.” He took Robert by the wrist and lead him back outside.

***

Later that evening at Jim and Kim’s, Robert was downing all the shots as he told Mary all about the weirdness that happened with Joseph and how Joseph somehow managed to convince him to buy a dozen brownies and two boxes of cupcakes. Now he has too many cupcakes. He also was very, very confused.

Mary just shrugged it off. “Of course you bought all those baked goods. He just swallowed a toad and he’s a Ziegevolk. They use pheromones as both a defence mechanism and something they do to get laid. Swallowing different types of toads and frogs change what kind of pheromones they produce. Every time we have a bake sale he swallows a toad and everyone within a few meters of him fall victim to whatever suggestions he says. Bitch could have been a lawyer.”

“Yeah… So I am going to kill Joseph.” Robert downed another whiskey shot. “Also, I think I had sex with Joseph like maybe eight years ago?”

“… Okay, now I am going to kill him,” muttered Mary. “Son of a bitch… I do not care if it’s in his so called nature to want to fuck people. It’s in my nature to murder small animals but I don’t do it.” She growled a little and woged. Mary forced her claws into the table and dug out small grooves. “Craig is a fucking blutbad and it’s in his nature to hunt down and murder whatever he pleases but he doesn’t do it… The least the bastard can do is keep it in his pants. He might as well just stay woged and give up being human completely if he just wants to give into his wesen instincts all the time.”

Robert nodded in agreement. “Yep… So why not divorce him?”

“Wesen divorce is kind of hard when two different types of wesen have kids,” said Mary. “Neither Joseph nor I know if the kids are going to take after me or him in the wesen department. It wouldn’t be fair if one of them is a fuchsbau but they have to stay with Joseph if he got custody. What the fuck does he know about what it means to be a fuchsbau? I kind of have to wait till they all woge before I demand a divorce.”

“Divorce is a messy thing…” muttered Robert.

Mary shot him a quizzical look. “Have you had a divorce?”

“Me? No. My parents did, but me…” He sighed a little and took one of Mary’s shots. “I’m widowed…”

“Oh… Shit Robert… I’m so sorry. Fuck, I didn’t even know you were married…” She looked rather distressed at this sudden revelation. “Fuck… Did you um… Did you have kids?”

Robert nodded. “Yeah, Val… We um… Grimm’s don’t have good family lives. A lifetime of seeing some really disturbing shit fucks with your head and makes for shitty parents…”

“… Is she like you?”

“The only part of her that’s like me is the whole Grimm thing…”

“Fuck… Damn Robert, I never picked you for the marrying type… Shit…”

“Yeah… Anyway, I have another more pressing issue.” He held up his tattooed hand for Mary to see. “What the fuck is this? Joseph touched it and it felt like my arm was being ripped off. He said it was old magic. Is this some kind of witch spell? Did he get a witch to put a hexed tattoo on me? Can I get it removed or do I have to cut off my hand? I am actually okay with mutilating myself over this.”

Mary held Robert’s hand and poked at the ink. “There are no such things as witches in the wesen community you moron. Witches were just poor humans that got accused of being able to cast magic. You’re thinking either a hexenbiest or the male equivalent a zauberbiest.” She hummed thoughtfully as she traced the tattoo with her finger. “I’ll look up what this means, but if I had to take a stab at it, I’d say this is some kind of submission hex.”

“… What?”

Mary shrugged. “Back in the old days there were a lot more aggressive wesen killing and eating the meeker ones. To avoid this they got hexenbiests to make hexes to put on the more dangerous ones to force them out of their bloodlusts and domesticate them. These things are pretty much a shock collar. Now days wesen have to play nicely with each other with how connected everything is with the internet. My man, you must have been really fucked up if you willingly let Joseph put this thing on you.”

“Woman did you not hear me when I told you how many cupcakes and brownies he made me buy today? All he had to do was ask and I freaking jumped to it. I’m going to kill him.”

“I suggest a long range weapon,” she informed. “Perhaps a gun or a spear of some kind… A spear gun.”

“I’m going to shoot Joseph with a spear gun.”

“You’re gonna shoot him with a spear gun.”

“Damn right I am.”

“Shoot him in the head. You might hit his geruck gland.”

“His what now? Is this some wesen thing?”

“It’s the thing that regulates a ziegevolk’s pheromones. You know, the thing that completely fucked with you and made your brain short circuit?”

Robert grumbled a little. “Tell me this Mary, can anyone else mess with my head like Joseph can?”

“Nah, your small mind is safe.” She waved over Neil and got them a few more drinks. They spent the rest of the night drinking their own body weights in alcohol. So it was no surprise that Robert missed the frantic texts that were bombarding his phone.

******From Val**  
Emergency!  
Dad you are in some serious trouble!  
I know what wesen the Bloodmarch’s are!  
Call me!  
This is really bad!  
I know we don’t talk much but I need you to call me now!  
I’m asking you as a Grimm but I’m telling you as your daughter!  
Call me!  
He’s going to kill you! 


	4. Stupid decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Murciélago: (mur-cié-la-go) A bat-like wesen. They are very agile and are known to have extreme emotional levels ranging from calm and creative to murderous hatred. They can produce an ear splitting screech that can cause glass to shatter and internal haemorrhaging. 
> 
> Why am I posting another chapter so soon? Well some days you just can't stop writing.

Much to Robert’s surprise he woke up in his own bed, in his own home, and he was still wearing his own clothes. He was getting better at being blackout drunk. He knew that wasn’t something to be proud of. He needed to drink three pots of coffee and get into a fist fight with god. It might not completely cure his hangover, but it might make him feel a little better. Also he would probably meet god if he drank that much coffee in one go.

It was also a good way for Robert to observe Mat and see if he would woge at any point. He seemed kind of skittish and shy so it probably wouldn’t take too much. He ordered a coffee and took a seat right at the back with his back facing the wall. It wasn’t very busy at whatever time of day this was. Kind of early, kind of late.

The Coffee Spoon seemed nice enough. It had a warm and inviting atmosphere that Robert could appreciate. The walls were lined with vinyl records, there were a few couches for patrons to lounge on, and there was a stage area along the back wall with an amp and microphone stand on it. Unplugged of course. Mat really seemed to like music.

Robert wracked his brain trying to think of what kinds of wesen were really into music. All he could come up with was that Greek god Pan. Though those guys tended to be more free spirits that wandered around places and busked for a living rather than opening up a coffee shop. As much Robert might hate to admit it, those guys could play a mean guitar.

While he contemplated this Mat walked over and gave him his coffee. “One, Godspeed You! Black Coffee.”

“Thanks.” Robert sipped it. It was bitter and tart and was going to stain his teeth, but it made him feel a little better. “… What time is it?”

“It’s twelve thirty,” said Mat. “Are you okay Robert?”

“I’m hung over.”

“Oh… What time did you go to bed last night?”

Robert shrugged. He wasn’t a fan of small talk, but if he had to make it he would. “Just before the sun went up I think. I’m lucky I didn’t wake up on the lawn again… I think Mary might have dragged me home? … I should probably check on her actually…” Now he was worried about Mary. Next time they met up he was going to have to get her phone number. Preferably before they got into any serious drinking.

Mat smiled a little. “Nice to see you’re getting along with Mary. She can be a little abrasive sometimes, but that’s not to say she’s a bad person. She can be pretty funny when she wants to be, but her humour is very dry and I just… I’m rambling again…” He nervously rolled his head back and woged. His ears became larger, his facial features became more pointed, and his incisors enlarged jutting ever so slightly out from his bottom lip.

Robert hadn’t personally encountered many rodent type wesen before. Most of them tended to stay the hell away from him once they realised what he was. He was going to need to do a little more reading when he got home. “It’s fine Mat. I get what you’re saying. You might want to get back to work. People are lining up.”

That quickly got Mat back to work while Robert nursed his coffee. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked to see if he had gone and drunk texted anyone while he was out. To his surprise he saw the texts from Val and immediately called her.

“Jeez dad! What the hell?!” She barked at him. “Were you out drinking or something? Hell, I almost thought you were dead! What on earth were you doing?”

“… Drinking with an old fuchsbau friend.”

Robert could practically hear Val rolling her eyes. “Really dad? Anyway, stay the hell away from the Bloodmarch’s. If they are related to the Bloodmarch’s I found out about you are fucked. With a rusty, HIV infected, sandpaper covered cactus.”

That seemed a little extreme. “Just spit it out Val. I’m kind of in the middle of a stakeout.”

“Right… So I talked to a guy who knows a thing or two about old wesen families. Apparently, the earliest known Bloodmarch’s were Dukes and Duchesses of Spain back in medieval Europe. Then some stuff happened within that whole secret wesen royalty backstabbing and the whole inquisition nonsense at the time.” 

“So they are loaded?” That would explain how Damien was able to get his house the way it was. As he mused this thought out loud he watched bat man himself walk in and order something from Mat. He seemed very, very tired. At least now he could observe both Mat and Damien.

“Let me finish old man,” muttered Val. “So they apparently went into hiding for some reason, still unclear on that, only to remerge during the mid-1800’s in London and they are demoted to the rank of Baron. They must have pissed someone off real bad for that to happen. Then some of them move to America around the 1940’s I believe, and everything kind of fizzes out from there. Nothing too interesting.”

“And I am going to die because?”

“Because back in the late 70’s a Bloodmach got a little pissed off and murdered ten people.” She snapped. “All internal organs exploded. They were bags of human soup, and if that wasn’t bad enough their eyes had exploded too and just blood everywhere. … and I heard through the grapevine that a Grimm took care of the whole family using some kind of military grade sonic device and a hatchet. It was a family of five.”

“Shit…”

“Yeah, these wesen are called murciélago. If they scream at you while woged you’ll be dead in seconds. You know how in that movie Mars Attacks the alien’s heads explode when they hear yodelling? Similar thing, except internal.”

“I see.” He looked over at Damien. He still looked very tired and done with life.

“If this Bloodmarch is related to the massacred ones, they might want revenge by murdering a Grimm. AKA, you.”

“Thanks for the heads up.”

“… Are you with the murciélago now?”

“Well I’m out in public and he’s around if that’s what you mean.”

“… God damn it dad…” She sighed heavily. “Just be careful… Is that the worst wesen living in the cul-de-sac?”

“Well when I went cryptid hunting I saw a werewolf, a fox lady, a minotaur thing, a giant rat thing, and a goat bastard… Still missing out on one, but it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out what cryptid it is.” Cryptids were easier for people to accept than wesen. Also, if any wesen were around they would just think he was a weirdo human that believed that cryptids were a thing. 

“I see… Well you just take care of yourself old man. Don’t do something stupid.”

“I won’t Val. Talk to you later.” He hung up and let out a long sigh He should have asked how Val was doing. He should have asked about her day or what she was doing this weekend. He should have made small talk with her, even though he hated it. Next time. He would do it next time. Right now he had to go and do something stupid. He grabbed his coffee and walked over to Damien’s table, sitting across from him.

This made Damien jump a little in surprise. “Oh, Robert. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”

He shrugged a little and drank his coffee. “Mary’s been saying I need to do this thing called socializing. It apparently involves spending time with people that aren’t me or her. You looked like you needed to talk to someone… And Mary likes you, so you’re probably cool enough to talk with.”

“Mary thinks much too highly of me…” he muttered quietly. “I assure you Robert, my troubles are quite boring and not something to concern yourself with.”

“Try me.”

“If you’re sure…” He nervously fiddled with a napkin. “We just updated the entire system at work the other week and people still don’t seem to understand that the commission’s folder has been moved. I recently bought a grevillea bush and I am worried that come autumn it will be too cold for it to survive because it’s native to Australia, New Guinea and other various warmer climates… But my biggest worry is that my son has gotten detention every day after school for a week because he got caught skipping classes again…” By the time he was done talking the napkin was shredded in his hands. 

“Huh…”

Damien sighed sadly. “I told you that you needn’t concern yourself with. It’s just silly little things.”

“Well, I don’t know much about computers and plants, but I can understand being concerned for your kid.” He wanted to poke around and see what he could find out about Damien. Though he had to admit his interest in the man was mainly because of how aggressively Mary was protecting him. “I know I’d be concerned if my kid was skipping school.”

The admission that he had a child seemed to pique Damien’s interest. “You have a child?”

“Yeah, but she’s in her twenties now. Not really a kid anymore.”

“Your children never stop being you children no matter how old they become,” said Damien calmly. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes. “Lucien acts out so much… Sometimes I fear I might have done something to him in his younger years to cause such behaviour.”

“Hey, unless you beat your kid repeatedly and psychologically tortured him I’d say his acting out isn’t your fault.” Robert finished the rest of his coffee and leaned back in his chair, sighing a little. “Then again I probably shouldn’t be giving out much parental advice. After the incident my daughter says I practically tried to pickle my liver. Not a good environment for a kid to grow up in.”

Damien just stared at Robert with wide, surprised eyes. “I um… I see… Pray tell, what incident are you referring to?” 

“The incident that made me a widower.”

“Oh…” Thankfully for both of them Mat came over with Damien’s order. 

“One, Strangling Peach tea,” said Mat happily. “By the way Damien, did you finally get that vaccination form?”

“Hugo was kind enough to procure one for me after Lucien allegedly lost it,” he sighed a little, looking completely exasperated. “I do not understand how he could handle having so many facial piercings and a stick and poke tattoo yet runs away at the thought of having a meningococcal vaccination…”

Mat chuckled a little. “He should count himself lucky. He just has to get one. The girls have to get two.”

Robert raised an eyebrow. “Two?”

“Meningococcal and cervical cancer vaccines,” said Mat. “Can I get you another coffee, Robert?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“Alright then, you two enjoy yourselves.” He walked back to the counter to serve some collage kids that just walked in.

Turning his attention back to Damien, it seemed like the peach tea was helping him feel a little better but he still looked stressed out. Being a wesen parent must have been very difficult. Robert himself had enough trouble keeping Val safe when she first starting seeing wesen when she was little. Female Grimm’s tended to start seeing wesen earlier than males. Arguably being born a Grimm was more dangerous considering most of the more aggressive wesen tended to try and murder every Grimm that they saw. Life was tough for the both of them.

Robert decided to do something stupid again. “Why don’t you come out drinking with me and Mary tonight? Knock back a few and just let loose. Unless you have work tomorrow?”

The well-dressed man seemed very surprised by this invitation, but he smiled a little. “Fortunately it is my RDO tomorrow. Yes, I do believe I shall join you two.”

“It’s a date.”

Just a subtle dropping of the word date finally sent Damien over the edge and he woged. He was definitely a bat wesen if the fact he looked like a giant ghost bat was anything to go by. It was kind of adorable that Robert could fluster such a dangerous creature so easily. He also made a quick mental note that Damien seemed to have webbed fingers and rather sharp looking claws in this form.

He chuckled a little at Damien. “I’m just messing with you Damien. Get Mary to pick you up. We’ll be drinking at Jim and Kim’s.”

***

Robert was already at Jim and Kim’s by the time Mary rocked up with Damien. Robert waved them both over to the booth that he had staked out for them to use that night. He had even gone and bought a few drinks for them to start with. Within seconds of Mary and Damien walking in, Mary had slipped into the booth and downed her wine.

She hummed a little. “Hmm, do I detect a hint of grapes from an Italian villa? Fermented in a pine barrel?”

“How the hell should I know?” Asked Robert. “I asked Neil to give me the cheapest, nastiest wine for a nasty foxy lady.”

“Really?”

“Nah, just said give me two glasses of whatever red wine you usually give Mary.”

Mary snorted. “Damn, then he really did give you the cheap nasty stuff.” She pushed the other glass to Damien. “Drink up Dames.”

Damien sighed heavily and drank. “I will Mary. Don’t you worry.”

She groaned and took Robert’s drink. “Dames, kids are assholes. Love them all you want, but they are always gonna eventually do something to piss you off. That’s just what they do… Can’t wait till my kids get old enough to become rebellious little shits. Joseph’s gonna freak.” She took a mouthful of Robert’s drink. “Bourbon and coke?”

Robert rolled his eyes. “Well Neil didn’t have all the ingredients to make me a pina colada so I had to settle with this.”

“Damn you and your fruity cocktails.” She finished off the rest of Robert’s drink. “They shall be the death of me.”

“Hey, fruity cocktails are delicious and dangerous,” informed Robert with the utmost seriousness. “Ever try to drink one without removing the umbrella first? Why do you think I wear these sunglasses all the time? Rogue paper umbrella incident.”

That got Damien to smile a little. “Really now?” He seemed to be used already be too used to Mary’s brand of humour to be affected by Robert’s bull shit stories. He would have to think fast.

“Yep. Turned an everyday drink into some kind of horror show. By the way Mary, you’re buying the next round seeing as how you drank my fucking drink. Again.”

Mary sighed dramatically and slouched down in the booth. “Fine. Dames, you want another one?”

“… Mary, I haven’t finished my first yet.”

“Fine.” She whined as she pulled herself up and went to the bar.

Once she was out of earshot, Robert had to ask Damien. “Does Mary steal your wine when you go drinking?”

“Never.”

Robert didn’t believe that for a second, then again Mary did seem to like Damien way more than she liked him. “So, Mary mentioned you two are related?”

“Ah yes…” Damien drank a bit more of his wine. “We are not related by blood, but her parents are my godparents, and well… there was an incident when I was younger that left me without a family. I sorry Robert but I am much to sober and do not know you well enough share much more than that.”

“Fair enough.”

Suddenly Mary slid back into the booth carrying a fresh glass or wine and a pina colada. “Here you go sailor. Neil had what he needed to make your damn pina colada. I made sure he didn’t use the deadly umbrella.” Both Mary and Damien laughed at this, Mary more so than Damien.

Robert on the other hand simply picked up the drink and sculled it. This caused him instant regret because pina colada’s are made with crushed ice. He downed half of it before developing a massive brain freeze. This just made Mary burst into laughter and Damien to politely cover his mouth and chuckle. From now on Robert was sticking to whisky or bourbon and coke.

“Mary-“ he muttered. “-I hate you so much…”

“Hey, I’m not the moron that just tried to scull an alcoholic slushy.” She retorted.

“You’re so mean to me Mary… Like the time you roofied me…”

She shrugged. “I said my drink tasted a little funny and asked if you wanted to swap. Then you downed my drink. Not my fault you got roofied. Hell, you roofied yourself you fucking idiot.”

“… Did this happen recently?” Damien’s voice was full of concern at the prospect of someone trying to date rape Mary.

Mary just chuckled and patted Damien’s back. “This was way back in collage. We were hanging out at that place, the Kitten and Rooster. Left the idiot in his tuck till it wore off.”

Damien looked surprised. “We went to the same college? How did I not know about this? What course were you taking Robert?”

“Oh, I never went to college,” clarified Robert. “I just needed a drink and happened to run into Mary at that bar. She tricked me into paying for her drinks. We hung out for a few months then I moved on.”

Damien was quiet for a moment before his eyes widened in surprise and he woged in absolute shock and spluttered. “That was you?! Oh my god! We’ve actually met before!” He hid behind his hands and muttered all kinds of incoherent things as his entire face burned bright red. 

Mary and Robert shared concerned looks, however Mary’s concern quickly turned to anger. “What did you do to him Robert? I will cut you if you hurt him no matter how many years ago it was. I will end you.”

“I didn’t do anything I swear!” Robert back up into the booth and put his hands up. “And if I did anything it shouldn’t be anything to murder me over… But if so can you snap my neck and make it quick? Also, someone needs to look after my dog.”

“It’s okay Mary…” muttered Damien, still completely embarrassed and mortified. “If he doesn’t remember it does not matter… I myself had almost completely forgotten about that night…”

Mary picked up Robert’s pina colada and glared at him. “Robert, I am gonna smash this glass and slit your throat if you don’t admit to what you did and beg for forgives right now.”

Damien shook his head as he finally removed his face from his hands. “Mary please… It is not a big deal. We met under less than favourable circumstances. He happened to bring you to our room after what I can only assume was a heavy night of drinking. Needless to say I was severely under dressed at the time and um… Robert might have groped my chest…”

Mary woged and glared daggers at him. She was ready to murder him. “You son of a bitch. I am going to scratch your eyes out.”

“Hold on one second,” said Robert quickly. “I do remember taking Mary to her dormitory once, but it was an all-girl’s dorm. No dudes allowed I remember that much. And I am damn sure I got punched in the face by a woman after a very awkward hug. ” Mary and Damien shared an awkward look. “What?” He looked at them both as he did some mental gymnastics trying to figure out what on earth was going on, when suddenly it clicked. “Oh, so you’re… That makes sense… Is this common knowledge or what?”

Damien buried his face in his hands again as new embarrassment swept over him in droves. “No… it is not… Oh dear, this was not how I was expecting tonight to turn out…”

Now Robert felt just as awkward as them. “Hey um… Look, I literally just met you for five minutes and then I got clocked in the jaw. I literally know you more as Damien then person that punched me in the face, and this is the third time we’ve talked to each other.”

Mary slung her arm around Damien’s shoulders and poked his cheek. “You don’t have to worry about Robert spilling secrets. He knows when he needs to keep his mouth shut. He is also easily bought in the form of cheap whisky and menthol cigarettes.”

Robert shrugged a little and drank some more of his pina colada. “I got no reason to rat you out Dames, and I’m not a fan of blackmail. As far as I’m concerned nothing has changed at all. We’re just a couple of friends out drinking.”

“… Thank you Robert.” For the first time since Damien became extremely embarrassed he managed to woge back to his human form. Mary quickly followed suit and went back to drinking. “Well…” said Damien quietly. “I guess that’s one way to come out…”

“Could have been worse,” said Mary. “You two could have gotten drunk and fucked.” Damien almost dropped his wine glass and Robert choked on a chunk of unblended ice. “Hey look, cute guys I can swindle drinks from. Later boys. Keep it sleazy.”

Robert couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched Mary go. He was glad she hadn’t changed even after all these years. He never realised how much he missed having her around. Possibly because mire days after he had driven off in his truck all those years ago he had met his wife. She was beautiful, patient, kind, and was in love with the open road. She meant everything to him and yet he let her down so many times.

He sighed a little and got up. “Hey Dames, I’m going to head out. You coming my way?”

“Um…” He glanced over at Mary.

“Relax kid,” said Robert. “If I tried anything I don’t doubt Mary would keep her promise and scratch my eyes out. Lady has sharp nails… And I highly doubt you have no idea how to defend yourself from big bad Robert.”

Damien raised an eyebrow. “Does Robert now refer to himself in the third person?”

“Only when Robert is attempting to sound charming, and or a complete tool,” he said. “So you coming with me or not? Mary’s going to be fine.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it. I’m more worried about the poor young man she’s sinking her fangs into at the moment.” He gestured over to some poor frightened looking man that Mary was chatting to.

Robert chuckled a little. “He’ll be fine.” He walked outside and lit up a cigarette. If Damien was going to follow him this would give him the precious seconds needed to do it. If not, he’d just wander around for a bit and then head home. He still needed to clarify what Mat was and what kind of wesen Brian was. The only good thing so far was that if he was stealthy he could kill them all with swift and well placed machete slash. He was going to have to sharpen it soon.

Hearing the door open, Robert glanced over to see Damien had decided to follow him. He smiled a little at the Victorian gentleman and gestured for him to follow. For some reason Damien complied and all Robert could think about was how fucking stupid he was being. He knew that if Damien really wanted to he could murder him without a second thought. Perhaps that was why Damien was comfortable enough to walk with Robert at night? Yeah, that was definitely the case.

Suddenly his stomach rumbled loud enough for both of them to hear. Robert chuckled. “You interested in getting something to eat before heading home? I’m buying.”

“Do you even know where one would go at this time of night to acquire food?”

“Damien, when you move into a new place the number one thing you do is scope out all the food places within walking distance. That’s just common sense.” He led Damien through a maze of alleys and side streets until they ended up in front of a tiny hole-in-the wall pizza joint. The bright neon sign proudly displayed the name; Pete’s Piece a’ Pizza. Robert had stumbled upon this place by accident once while half drunk and decided that this place was pretty good. “You good with some pizza? Vegetarian, right?”

Damien seemed a little startled but nodded anyway. “Yes, but how did you know?”

“At the barbeque you and your kid were the only ones eating veggy burgers. Figured you two were either on some family health kick or actually didn’t eat meat.” Robert went up to the counter and ordered a slice of Hawaiian and vegetarian pizza. 

They waited in silence for their pizza’s to come out of the stone oven. The smell was making Robert’s mouth water. There was just something so good about the scent of hot pineapple and ham. Eventually the cashier handed them each their giant slice on flimsy paper plates. There was something satisfying about artery clogging, greasy pizza too. Judging from the way Damien was eating his slice with no complaints, Robert could tell he wasn’t some health nut that went veggy for the sake of his body. 

They ate in relative silence as they walked through the alleyways, eventually making it back onto the street. Robert’s stupid curiosity was getting the better of him again. “So is it a religious thing?”

“Pardon?”

“Being vegetarian,” said Robert. “I just assumed since you’re eating vegetables topped with grease with a side of grease it isn’t a health thing. You one of those weirdos who think that animals specifically bred to have a large muscle mass for human consumption and would destroy the natural ecosystem shouldn’t be eaten and freed to destroy the natural ecosystem everyone and everything needs to survive on this planet?”

Now Damien just looked more confused than ever. “I’m sorry, but what are you going on about?”

“Just seeing if I’m gonna get lynched if I make a PETA joke or a cow joke.”

“You are quite a strange man, Robert.” His comment was negative, but his slight smile at the corner of his lips was genuine. “It is neither a religious nor an activist mentality that prevents me from perusing an omnivorous lifestyle. It actually has much to do with the incident that took my family when I was younger… Ever since then the smell and feel of raw meat and blood has made it impossible for me to cook it. I had to request Mary help me cook it when Lucien was younger. I did not wish to force my lifestyle onto him, especially since there are many issues that can occur for a growing child if they don’t receive all their necessary vitamins and minerals.”

“But he is vegetarian too?”

A proper smile graced Damien’s face. “Oh yes. Lucien has always been very supportive of me and my stranger quirks… Though I was very shocked to hear him say he wished to forgo all forms of meat when he was but ten years old. I was overwhelmed with joy that he wished to do so in solidarity with me.”

“You got a good kid. He’s just rough around the edges,” said Robert. He started making his way back to the cul-de-sac.

“… You’ve only ever seen my son and you’re giving him the benefit of the doubt? Thank you…” he said quietly. “Most people would think poorly of him after hearing what I have said about him earlier.”

Robert shrugged. “I try not to take things at face value. Everyone has a façade they put on in front of other people for many reasons; popularity, fear, regrets, and a whole host of other things. Teens tend to have a different façade for different people. I doubt your kid’s any different.”

“… That is actually quite comforting to hear. Thank you again Robert. You are far more insightful than one might first give you credit for.”

He laughed at Damien’s comment. “Well damn. You caught me Dames. Looks like I have to drop my tough guy façade and be who I truly am. For you see I am… a psychologist. I am studying all the dads and the kids in the neighbourhood as research for my new book; A singles guide to dads, cul-de-sac’s, and raising kids, and cyrptids.” They reached Damien’s home.

“That is an interesting variety of topics your book seems to be covering. I look forward to reading it.” They walked up to his front door. Robert was quite impressed with how nice his place looked, even if it was plucked straight from Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. Damien placed his hand on the door handle and paused for a moment. “… This evening was quite lovely. Thank you for inviting me out. Perhaps you would like to join me for tea tomorrow afternoon? As a way of paying you back for the impromptu pizza of course.”

Since today was the day Robert’s brain had decided that it would make nothing but stupid choices that would fling him closer and closer to death’s door. Robert made another stupid choice. “Sure, why not.”

“Then I shall see you tomorrow. Good evening Robert.” He bowed with a flourish and entered his abode.

Robert stared at the door for a few moments while he thought over what just happened. There was something kind of off about the whole exchange, but it didn’t seem wesen related. It was much more human. He contemplated this as he walked home, went inside and got ready for bed. He was still thinking about this uneasy feeling he was having even while he was lying in bed with Betsy snuggled up by his side and snoring like a tiny pig.

Suddenly something clicked in Robert’s head and he sat up so quickly he almost knocked Betsy off the bed. “Did I just agree to a fucking date with Damien?”


	5. Is this a date?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taureus Armenta; (tohr-uhs ahm-men-tuh) A Minotaur-like wesen. Famous for stubbornness and courage in the face of adversity. Highly respected on the battlefield and are often found on the front lines. Because of this they are one of the more well respected wesen in the wesen community. Prefers to avoid confrontation with Grimms.
> 
> Reinigen; (ry-ni-gin) A rat type wesen. Quick and light on their feet, they are rarely violent unless pushed to the limit. They possess a musical ability that allows them to mesmerise and control large groups of rats. They are cautious in the presence of strong wesen and will run away from a Grimm if confronted.
> 
> Honestly, I'm able to get these chapters out so quickly because I have chronic insomnia :P

Truth be told Mary did not know what she was expecting when she went over to Robert’s place midmorning. However, she was pretty surprised to see Robert in some random room with both the walls and the floor covered in paper and strings. All Robert was missing was his tinfoil hat and he would complete the crazy conspiracy look.

“So, what happened to you two while I was away?” She asked. “You two ditched me rather early on in the night.”

Robert didn’t even bother to look over at her, he just pinned another bit of coloured string to the board. “Mary, I am troubled.”

“How so?”

“I think I’m going on a date with Damien.”

“… I walk away for five minutes and this shit happens,” she muttered. “What the fuck Robert? Did you two somehow reconnect over the memory of you grabbing his tit?!”

“What? No. We went and ate shitty pizza and talked a bit,” said Robert. “When we got back he invited me over to his place for afternoon tea or some bullshit. I’m now mildly concerned for my safety.”

Mary rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’m going to get you a tinfoil hat.” She walked over to his corkboard and snickered when she saw a photo of Joseph cut out from a church newsletter with a goat head pasted on his body. “Ah, you’ve captured the true essence of the ziegevolk. You know who everyone is yet?”

Robert sighed dramatically and practically threw himself to the floor. “Well I did more reading so I am now sure that Hugo’s a Taureus-Armenta. Like seriously, who else but one of those would have the balls to teach middle school, face their screeching parents, and not lose their shit after a year?” He picked up a few papers that were surrounding him and tossed them away. 

Mary picked up the papers he had discarded. Most of them were old articles from local newspapers about The Coffee Spoon and a few other printed bits of paper about rat plagues. There was even one about the Pide Piper of Hamelin.

“I’m pretty sure Mat’s a Reinigen. Granted I don’t know too much about him and stuff so I’m not too sure about his personality and I know I shouldn’t just lump them all together as one thing because as you said, that’s like racial profiling. But he is a rodent type wesen and he seems to be really into music if that accounts for anything.”

“You’re rambling again,” warned Mary. She nudged him with her foot. “But you are right about Mat and Hugo… What about Brian?”

Robert let out a small inhumane screech. “Fuck Brian! Fuck everything! Fucking fuck him! I have no idea what the fuck he is! He’s never around when I’m around! What the fuck does he do for a living?! Is he even a wesen? Is he a fucking weird wesen like Santa or Krampus and only woge because of some fucking lunar cycle for like three days straight? What is he?!”

His frustration gave Mary life. She missed watching Robert throw a fit when he lost his goddamn mind over not knowing what wesen he’s dealing with. The fact that Mary was keeping this information from him just made her laugh internally even more. If he hadn’t figured out what Brian was by the end of the month she would tell him. She’d have to tell him in a place with no throwable objects or windows. There was a high chance Robert would throw himself out a window or something through a window once he found out and thought about all the signs he obviously missed.

“Calm down sailor,” she cooed. “But seriously, you think you’re going on a date with Damien? Like what the hell?”

“Does he often invite people over for afternoon tea to people that give him greasy pizza after he finds out they groped his tit one drunken night pre transition?”

“… Good point.” May sighed a little. “Stupid boy, he gets too emotionally attached too quickly to things. Damn Murciélago… Keep it friendly Robert. Just remember, the second he finds out your secret he’s going to sink his claws into your neck and pull out your throat.”

Robert sighed dramatically. “Mary, your friend is fucking weird! Can I just cancel and never speak to him again ever and let it be?”

“No way! You’ll hurt his feelings!” She nudged him again. “You’re going to get up, go over there and make sure you make it clear that all you want is a platonic relationship.”

‘I can’t.”

“Dear lord you’ve fallen for him already!?”

“Nope. I can’t get up. I threw my back out when I threw myself to the floor.”

“… Fuck, you really are old.”

“Shut up Mary.”

***

Damien had been quite enthralled with Robert for a while now. He was a strange man really. He seemed to be almost completely nocturnal, but preferred to wear his sunglasses regardless of time or if he was inside our out. He even rolled with Mary back in collage. Back then Mary wouldn’t even give a non wesen the time of day, and even then they had to be cool badass wesen. Mary must have seen something special in him. He was just so cool and interesting and different.

Though he had no idea what possessed him to invite such a strange man over to his home for afternoon tea. He doubted he would be overly interested in gothic architecture or interested in the Victorian era, but they did engage in relatively pleasant conversation, and he had to repay Robert for buying him food when he didn’t have to. That was all this was.

Though he had found himself spending a little more time than usual tidying up his home and making sure he looked as nice as possible. It had just been a while since he had anyone over and he wanted to give a good impression of his home. That was all.

However, despite all this he almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a knock at the door. Damien quickly attempted to flatten out the nonexistent wrinkles in his vest and took a few deep breaths before opening the front door.

He smiled brightly at Robert and welcomed him in. “I’m pleased you were able to make it over here Robert. Please, come on in.”

“Thanks.” It was hard to read Robert’s stony expression as he looked around the foyer. He would have been easier to read if he was not wearing his sunglasses. It must have been doing terrible damage to his eyes. “Huh, you really went all out with this Victorian era stuff huh? It’s pretty impressive.”

“Ah yes. It did take a while taking care of the renovations, but my home is how I like it. Please, allow me to show you around.” Damien took Robert on a tour of his home, showcasing the parlor, sitting room, auxiliary sitting room, and then the parlor again. He hadn’t meant to back track, but he had to in order to get to the library. 

On the way they passed a door covered in bumper stickers, caution tape, and a Black Parade poster. “Your kid’s room?” Robert questioned.

“Ah yes, that is Lucien’s room,” said Damien. “He is going through those rebellious teenage years. You know how it can be. Now Onward, Onward. There is more to see.” They walked to the end of the hallway and Damien opened the door with a flourish. “And this is the library.” In retrospect Damien knew he should have found places on the shelves for the dozens of books stacked in piles on the floor, desk, and couches, but there weren’t that many places left. He had more books than actual space. He hoped Robert would not think poorly of him for leaving it in such disarray.

While he worried about this, Robert had made his way over to the wall covered in pinned butterflies and moths. “Huh, did you do these yourself? My aunt used to do this kind of stuff. It was pretty interesting.”

Damien’s eyes lit up in surprise. “Really now? Did you pin them with her or did you just capture the creatures?”

“She never trusted me to pin them. Thought I’d stab myself or someone else.” He stood back a little and gave a nod of approval. “This is a really nice collection. Did you catch them all yourself?”

“Some of them I had to purchase from enthusiastic entomologists, but I am proud to say I pinned each one myself.” That was something he was indeed proud of. It was painstaking work and several times he had pricked himself, especially when he was just starting out, but it was worth it. It was a unique and wonderful wall piece. He was even thinking of starting another one soon. “Perhaps I could show you how to pin them sometime. Now that you are old enough to be trusted not stab yourself or others with a pin.”

“Well considering I cut myself on a daily basis I don’t think I’d notice a pin prick.” He held up one of his hands for Damien to see. He was surprised to see that his calloused hand was covered in many tiny white scars. It was an interesting contrast to his actual skin colour. “I whittle a lot,” he clarified. “So don’t get any weird ideas.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” He wondered what kind of whittling Robert did. Was he actually making things or just sharpening sticks? Did he sell his pieces? Were they small keychain sized or figurines?

“The ziegevolk pheromones can elicit a number of emotional responses from those within range,” said Robert. 

Damien damn near woged when Robert had just came out and said that, but he quickly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Robert was reading from a book. Mary had recently been investigating ways to prevent Joseph from using his pheromones to influence those around him. She had found it in the form of the geruck gland neutralizer, but it was a permanent fix. A last resort if things truly got out of hand. To neutralize a ziegevolk was like cutting off a limb.

“Consequently, a neutralizing procedure was developed in the late 1820’s…” Robert trailed off a little when he finished the opening paragraph and actually got to the ingredients. “What’s a ziegevolk?” He asked.

Damien just brushed it off. Robert wouldn’t believe him even if said Joseph. “A mythical creature of European folklore. Although most creatures had started to become debunk and proven false by science and medicine of the era, there were still manuscripts that talked about them and ways to eliminate them. That was just how things were back then.”

Robert chuckled a little as he thumbed through the rest of the book. “You got more stuff like this? I’ve always found mythology stuff pretty interesting. You wouldn’t believe how much of this stuff is based on fact.”

“Hmm? How so?”

Robert thought for a moment before snapping the book shut. “Vampires. In cultures where it was normal to dig up their dead and move their bones any body that didn’t decompose naturally was considered undead in nature. Most of the time their gum line would recede and give the appearance of fangs, gasses would build up in the guts and make them look well fed, and blood would often be found on their lips and mouth area in general due to said decomposing gasses pushing the blood in the lungs into the mouth.”

It was rather enchanting to hear Robert talk about vampires in such context. He seemed very knowledgeable on the subject and seemed to get carried away with himself. It was like when he got going on anything Victorian.

“Did you know not all vampires were known for drinking blood? Heck, they just used to be part of the undead but they slowly started to become blood suckers and then it became lore after works like Carmilla and Dracula became popular. Dracula more so then Carmilla.”

Well now Damien was impressed. He couldn’t believe that someone who looked as rugged and unkempt as Robert was so well versed in classic Gothic literature. “Have you read Carmilla?”

“I have a copy of it somewhere in my house. Maybe. I moved around a lot and don’t really know what I have or don’t have anymore.” He had a look at a few other books on the shelf. “I have more a movie collection than a book collection. But what books I do have are more mythological based, both ancient and more modern. Though modern mythological creatures and more commonly known as cryptids by the general public.”

Damien couldn’t help but smile a little at this. He wondered how Robert would feel knowing that everyone in the cul-de-sac was a supposed mythological creature of some variety. The poor man would probably faint or have heart attack. Maybe even both. He had to admit he found that possibility more entertaining than he should have.

“I see,” said Damien. “So does this mean you are a cryptid hunter of some kind? Are there many dangerous cryptids here in Maple Bay?”

“Well there aren’t any dangerous ones.” Said Robert. “I managed to chase them off. One look at me and my knife and they went running. There are one or two really dangerous ones still around, but I am keeping my eye on them.”

“Perhaps you would like to continue this conversation over some tea?” With no objection from Robert the two walked down to the sitting room where Damien quickly produced a tea set and finger foods on a tiered silver tray. He poured and served Robert a cup of tea.

Robert seemed to enjoy his tea, or at least tolerate it. It was very difficult for Damien to read someone when he couldn’t see their eyes at all. There had to be some reason Robert wore sunglasses all the time. Perhaps he had lazy eye and was embarrassed by it? Maybe he had a glass eye? It would be rude of him to just come right out and ask him, wouldn’t it? Robert might be sensitive about this issue.

“Do I have something on my face?” Asked Robert. “You keep staring.”

A light blush quickly dusted Damien’s cheeks but he did his best to compose himself. “My apologies. I was just wondering why you always were sunglasses. You were even wearing them at night. It can’t possibly be good for your eyes.”

“It isn’t,” said Robert. He put his tea cup down and rubbed the back of his neck. “I lost my glasses a while ago and never got around to getting a new pair. My sunglasses are prescription you see.”

“Ah, okay.” Damien picked up his own tea cup and took a few sips. “Perhaps you could invest in contact lenses or more than one pair of glasses?”

“I guess, but I am pretty lazy when it comes to that stuff.” He picked up one of the small sandwiches and ate it. “I’ve never been good at taking care of myself.”

“Oh don’t say that. You’re still here and alive, right?”

“True…” The two stayed in a relatively comfortable silence after that as they enjoyed their tea and finger food. It was relatively comfortable because Damien felt slightly uncomfortable, but Robert seemed to be at ease so he didn’t say anything. Soon the there was no more tea or finger food left.

Damien cleared his throat a little. “I um, have one more thing to show you.” He got up and lead Robert around to the back of his home to his garden. He had put a lot of time and effort into it. Each flower held a significant meaning and a large majority of these were used in wesen remedies and elixirs. “My garden.”

“Wow, this is impressive.”

That brought a smile to Damien’s face. “Victorian’s took flowers and floral arrangements very seriously. Each flower meant something completely different depending on what it was paired with, and even the ribbon they were tied with could change the whole meaning of the bouquet.”

“And you know the meaning of all of them?”

“I do my best to only plant the flowers that I know.” He also planted flowers that had a nice smell and beautiful colour pallets, but Robert didn’t need to know about that.

“Hey, I know this one.” Robert was pointing to a red tulip. “That’s a declaration of love, right?”

“Quite. Are you… interested in flowers too?”

“Not really, but my wife used to like red tulips…” 

There was a slight mournful tone in Robert’s voice that struck a chord with Damien. Talking about the dearly departed was never an easy or pleasant thing to do. Time didn’t necessarily heal all wounds but it did make talking about it easier sometimes. He wouldn’t press the matter.

Robert checked his watch and sighed a little. “Sorry to cut this short, but I need to get going. Taking my dog to the vet today for a checkup and I um, didn’t think we would have so much to talk about. But it’s been nice. Really.”

“Oh yeas of course.” His eyes quickly darted around the garden before settling on a small patch of sweet peas. Damien quickly plucked one out and presented it to Robert. He doubted the other man would understand what it meant or if it even meant anything in general. “I quite enjoyed our time together to. Until our paths cross again?”

Robert took the flower and gave it a quizzical look for a moment. “Sure. Thanks for the flower. Later Dames.” He left via the side gate.

Once he was out of view, Damien found himself releasing a breath he did not know he was holding and slowly sank to the ground, balancing on the balls of his feet. Everything had gone so smoothly and he had learnt so much about his neighbor. He even accepted his token of affection without really knowing their meaning. Heck it was hard for men in general to accept flowers as a gift, especially older men.

Suddenly the backdoor opened and Damien was looking up at Lucien. This both upset and angered Damien a little. Lucien was skipping school again. “Lucien, what are you doing here? Why aren’t you at school?”

“… Because school ended like an hour ago? Are you okay? How long have you been out here?”

“…” That was actually a very good question. He could have sworn he was only like this for a few minutes at most. He attempted to stand up, but quickly found his legs had seized up a little. One of the many problems of growing old. “Lucien, please be a dear and help me up. Your father is very, very old and his knees do not work the way they used to.”

With a heavy sigh, Lucien helped Damien get back on his feet. “So, not like I care or anything, but you had the good tea set out? Like did you invite Mary over or something?”

Damien dusted himself off a little and smiled warmly. “Actually, it was our new neighbor Robert Small. He is a surprisingly deep and insightful man.”

“… Yeah, whatever. I have homework to do,” he muttered quietly as he quickly made his way back into the house. 

Damien just sighed and let him go. His behavior was still as antisocial as ever, but he was still a good kid deep down. He was just a little rough around the edges. He hoped Lucien would eventually mature the older he got. He looked over towards Robert’s home and felt his heart flutter a little. That man was so strange and different. He hoped they could get to know each other better over the next few days.


	6. Teenage angst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey no new terminology this chapter. What are the odds?

A woge is a powerful and intense experience. It forces itself through your entire core like an unstoppable wave and breaks the surface. The feelings of skin rippling and pulsating are enough to make anyone’s stomach turn. It’s highly impulse driven and usually appears as fight or flight response for wesen kind. Some are lucky enough to be able to concentrate their woge to their eyes. The first woge is painful. It always is. Entire physiology is forced to change, to submit to the animal underneath. It’s scary and most don’t take it very well. Such was the case for Lucien Bloodmarch.

He was thirteen when it first happened. He was in his bedroom reading some school assigned book when his body started to tremble uncontrollably. He tried to get up and call for his dad, but the sudden spike in pain was too much. He screwed his eyes shut and laid panting on the floor till pain subsided.

Panting heavily, the young teen pulled himself to his feet via the vanity, freezing in shock when he saw himself in the mirror; glowing red eyes, leathery skin, a flat flared snout, large translucent ears, and rows of vicious teeth greeted him. He touched his face in disbelief only to find even his hands had changed; leather, webbed and sported sharp gnarly claws. Unable to cope with his sudden physical changed he let out a shriek. Much to his horror his voice obliterated anything made of glass around him and caused every dog that heard him to howl. 

Damien had forgone his gardening and rushed inside the moment he had heard his son’s terrified screaming and did his best to comfort him. Through his son’s scared sobs Damien did his best to reassure Lucien that he was perfectly normal and that nothing was wrong with him. He explained as best he could what it meant to be a Murciélago and how his bat form was only a small part of who he really was. He also gave Lucien the most important rule for him when he was woged; never scream or people will die.

His advice had helped a little, but being a teenager with so many hormones rushing through him he found it difficult not to immediately woge when a confrontation occurred. When confrontation’s happened he wanted to yell at whoever was pissing him off, but he couldn’t. His screams could kill. So he resigned himself to being the weird quiet emo kid that people avoided.

There were very few people he could relate to in his year, much less see the problem he was going through. The only people that could even vaguely understand were the other kids from the cul-de-sac that had woged. So that was pretty much just Carmensita and Ernest. However he didn’t have much in common with her, so he spent most of his time hanging out with Ernest.

The pair were ditching class to hide under the bleachers and share Ernest’s vape pen. His other dad, cool dad, had bought if for Ernest a few months ago along with a bunch of different vape juice. They were currently trying some candy flavoured one and couldn’t decide if it tasked more like bubble gum or musk sticks.

“I’m telling you, its musk sticks,” said Ernest. “My dad sent over a bunch of weird food from Australia last time he was there and that was in there.”

Lucien shrugged as he took a long drag. “… Still tastes like bubble gum to me. Maybe if you didn’t eat all that candy and left some for me to try I’d know what the hell a musk stick tastes like.”

“It tastes like the vape.”

“…” Lucien took another hit and exhaled in the younger boys face.

Ernest snarled a little and woged. His horns had already doubled in size since Lucien had last seen them. He took his vape pen back and inhaled deeply before slowly exhaling out his nose. It reminded Lucien of those cartoon bulls that blew steam out their nose when they were really pissed. “Prick.”

“Whatever.” He glanced back at the main building through the gapes in the bleachers. “What are you ditching?”

“History. You?”

“Art.”

Ernest raised an eyebrow at that remark. “Thought you liked art?”

“I do, but the teacher’s on maternity leave so we have this prick of a sub instead. He insists of forcing art theory down our throats and when we did get to do actual practical stuff, he made me start my assignment again.”

The hoodie gremlin rolled his eyes. “Were you drawing dicks?”

“Actually, yes.”

“… The fuck?”

Lucien sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “We’re looking at the Renaissance period at the moment. Tits, ass, and dicks everywhere. We have to do charcoal sketches of pieces from the time. We can just do singular figures or the whole scene. I’m doing a of Bottucelli’s Birth of Venus, The Creation of Adam, and David.” Seeing Ernest’s blank expression, Lucien clarified. “Naked chick on a sea shell, the finger touching one, and Michelangelo’s statue of David.”

“Ah,” he passed Lucien the vape pen. “So what’s his problem?”

He gladly accepted it and took a few quick puffs. “David and Adam have been deemed to inappropriate for me to be drawing, even though I finished them and got approval from our actual teacher. Surprisingly my portrait shot of Venus with her tit out on display was fine though.”

“Your teacher is a piece of shit.”

“Next time I’m allowed near the art supplies I’m drawing a giant vagina; clit, labia, and all that stuff. It will be my peaceful protest.”

Ernest snorted. “Yeah, that totally won’t get you a detention.”

“Like I give a fuck if I get detention for drawing a cunt. It’s not like I’m spray painting in on the school somewhere.”

“If a giant cunt gets spray painted on the side of the building in the near future I am going to assume you did it.”

“Fair enough.” He reached over and lightly tugged on one of Ernest’s horns, earning him a grunt and a scowl. “How big are those things going to get anyway?”

“No idea. Hugo said they’ll stop growing after about a year.” He ran his own fingers along his horns, sighing a little. “These things fucking hurt when I woge.”

“Is that why you get so pissy for ages after you woge?”

“Dude, I don’t even look like me when I woge,” whined Ernest. “I look like a freaking minotaur. It’s annoying.”

Lucien rolled his eyes and took the vape. “You’re a fucking Taureus-Armenta. No shit you look like a minotaur. At least you look mildly approachable compared to me. I look like a fucking monster.”

Ernest nudged Lucien’s leg with his foot. “You’re not a monster. Some bats just have very unfortunate faces… You just so happen to look like really wrinkly leather that’s been hit by a garbage truck and left out in the sun for too long.”

“How eloquently put. You’re a fucking poet.” Lucien involuntarily twitched and woged. He sighed heavily and flipped Ernest off as best he could with his webbed fingers.

“Still haven’t got your woge under control?”

“Fuck off,” he whispered. He turned away from Ernest as to not accidently blow out his ear drums if he accidently raised his voice too high. He didn’t think he was ever going to fully control his woge or his volume. “You can’t control your woge either.”

“I’m getting better at it. Vape me.” 

Lucien passed back the vape pen and listened to the subtle sounds of his younger friend inhaling and exhaling the vapour. That was possibly one of the only things he liked about being a Murciélago. He had extremely good hearing. If he tried he could even hear the blood rushing around someone’s body with every beat of their heart. A trait that had popped up from time to time in vampire movies for some reason. Lucien strongly believed some bat wesen was writing vampire novels out there.

“… Is Mr Vega making you practice woging or something?”

Ernest snorted. “Yeah. That fucker keeps saying it’s something I need to do. That it’s some kind of big deal. But then he gets all weird like, you can’t woge all the time or you will hurt yourself. Like what the fuck Hugo?” He snarled. “Do you want me to woge or not? Make up your fucking mind.”

“Well if you’re doing that you’re not setting fires.”

“I haven’t set any lately. Between school and spontaneously woging like five times a day I have no energy for it.”

“Fire bug.”

“Emo freak.”

“Hoodie gremlin.” 

“Try hard.”

“Bull face.”

“Bat brain.”

“…”

“…”

They both started laughing at each other. Everything always ended in some stupid name calling, but that was okay. They knew neither of them meant it. Not really. As far as Lucien remembered Ernest had always been his friend. With a lifelong friendship came an unspoken understanding that most people didn’t understand. They just got each other.

Lucien glanced over at Ernest and took the vape from him. He took another hit and let it out in a few small rings above his head. “… Still tastes like bubble gum to me.” He slowly rolled his neck and managed to woge back to his human self. 

“Whatever you say bubble gum bitch.” Ernest grunted as he too woged back to normal and took the vape back. “Want to try another flavour or go back to class?”

“What do you have on you?”

“Orange, Watermelon, and toasted marshmallow.”

“Watermelon.” 

As Ernest refilled the vape pen a flyer blew under the bleacher and hit Lucien’s leg. He had a quick look at it, groaning a little. It was for some dumb school wide event dedicated to sports, aka some pta mum saw some documentary about childhood obesity and instead of demanded homework be reduced so kids could go outside they demanded some awareness campaign instead. It was just his luck that the dates also corresponded with vaccination week. The one dreaded time of the year where nurses and doctors would rock up with their sketchy looking trailers and jab everyone in the arm for whatever disease their notes said they needed to get jabbed for.

Ernest snatched the flyer out of Lucien’s hands and passed him the vape. “What’s this for?”

“Sports week thing.” He inhaled deeply, happy to find that this was definitely watermelon unlike the random candy flavour from before. 

“Fan-fucking-tastic…” grumbled Ernest. “Think Hugo would be pissed if I went and played in traffic the night before this shit starts?”

“It’s also vaccination week,” reminded Lucien. 

“… All the more reason to play in traffic.”

“You’re such a drama queen.” He passed the vape back and sighed. “Look, the day’s almost over. Let’s head back to my place. My dad’s working late today.”

It was a dumb question to ask. There was no way either of them would miss the opportunity to ditch school. Ditching was just more fun to do when the two of them did it together. It didn’t take them too long to get back to Lucien’s house. Not many people had been inside his house. Within seconds they were in Lucien’s room listening to MCR and vaping. 

It was relaxing to just lay back and not worry about getting caught by grumpy teachers or angry parents busting them for doing something relatively harmless compared to some of the stuff they usually did. Those two blowing off steam usually consisted of mild property damage in the form of spray paint. It sometimes made Lucien wonder if their parents let them get away with just that little bit more because they were wesen and under more stress than most.

It wouldn’t have surprised him if that was true. His dad surprisingly let him get away with a lot. Most parents would have beaten his ass or at least grounded him for less than half the stuff he’d done. He thought he would have gotten grounded for the stick and poke tattoo he had gotten on his arm. Instead he just got a lecture on proper tattoo care and how many people in the Victorian era were tattooed with elaborate works, and how he shouldn’t get another tattoo unless it was done by a professional and of something that held grate significance to him. That was it.

He never thought he would want a stricter parent. Yet here he was, wondering what it would be like to have a dad that got pissed off at him and grounded him from time to time. Could that be part of why he acted out? He just wanted his dad to care about him enough to punish him when he needed it? Did he feel like his dad didn’t care about him at all? It seemed like Damien had wasted money on a therapist if Lucien could come up with that conclusion by himself. 

Suddenly his IPod starts playing something in Japanese, causing Lucien to blush and Ernest to pull a face. “What the fuck is this weeb shit?”

“… Vocaloid.”

“Your, not so secret now, secret guilty pleasure?”

“Yep. Did you put it on shuffle?”

“I might have,” muttered Ernest. He hummed a little, twirling his vape pen in his hand. “Is this song about anything or is it a vapid pop song?”

“Lesbians, forbidden love, sticking together no matter what. Shit like that.”

“Never picked you for the romantic type.”

“Says the delinquent that gets all misty eyed when someone brings up the ending of Titanic.”

Ernest blushed a little and pouted. “Shut up. It was a beautiful and tragic ending… There was enough room for Jack and Rose… They could have been saved and lived happily ever after…”

That made Lucien roll his eyes so hard he felt like they were going to fall out of his skull. “Whatever.” He lightly nudged Ernest with his foot. “Open the window. It’s getting stuffy in here.” The younger lets out a dramatic groan and opened up Lucien’s window. He froze a moment, causing Lucien some concern. “What’s up?”

“You know that weird guy that moved in that always wears sunglasses because he seems to be in a constant hung over state?”

“Yeah?”

“He’s in your garden.”

“What?” He quickly joined Ernest at the window and glared at the weirdo very slowly walking through bushes of pink, purple, and yellow carnations. “… The hell is he doing? Fuck it. Be back in a second.” He walked downstairs and out into the garden, making sure to slam the door hard to get Robert’s attention. “I’m calling the police.”

Robert jumped a little and made a gesture for him to keep his voice down. “Shut up.” He hissed. “I’m just trying to get Betsy out of here before she decides to dig up half the garden.”

“Dig up? Is Betsy a dog?” He could feel another involuntary woge coming on. Truth be told Lucien did like animals, he was just unfortunately allergic to most things with fur. Dogs were a huge trigger for his allergies and could very well send him to the hospital if he was really unfortunate. It was normal to be scared by something that could kill you, right?

Robert just sighed and carefully stepped onto the path. “Yeah, I let her outside for a bit while I was doing some stuff and when I went to let her back in I only just managed to see her butt disappearing under the fence.”

“R-right…” He couldn’t stop it, he woged right in front of Robert. He often wondered what kind reaction he would get from people if they did see him like this. If he felt disgust and anger when he just looked at his hands he could only imagine what normal people would do. He imagined Mr Small might punch him out right then and there. He seemed like the kind of idiot that would punch someone in the face.

His hearing picked up something snuffling under the grevillea bush off in the far off corner of the garden. Those flowers were something on an experiment for his dad. Grevillea was native to Australia and other, warmer climates. He remembered asking why him why he had bought it and Damien just smiled at Lucien and said; Grevillea means boldness, strength to leave unpleasant situations and indifference to the judgement of others. It reminded me much of you.

He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by the unmistakable skitter of claws on stone paths. Betsy had darted out of her hiding spot under the bushes and to her human dad. She had a big stick in her mouth and was far too happy to present it to him. She completely ignoring Lucien and excitedly wiggled her stumpy tail around excitedly, putting her hips into it and ended up wiggling her butt around. It was almost like she was expecting him to throw the stick again.

“You have been a bad girl,” He muttered as he booped her nose. “I’ll take you out for more walks, so don’t go into people’s yards.” His sunglasses slipped down the bridge of his nose ever so slightly. From that angle Lucien could kind of see Robert’s eyes. He couldn’t really see them too well, but to him they looked jet black and he couldn’t explain it, but for the first time in years he felt genuine terror. Like Robert could actually see him as he actually was right there in his wesen form.

His fight or flight response was going into overdrive. Run inside or scream. Run inside and lock the door or scream and have to explain why he murdered both Robert and his dog when his dad came home. Would his dad be able to forgive him for that? Would he need to go to therapy? Heck, he didn’t even have to guess he knew he was going to get put into therapy. His dad would be unbelievably disappointed in him and would never be able to look at him the same way again. What on earth would they do with Robert’s body anyway? He doubted his dad would want to bury Robert in the backyard somewhere.

“You okay kid?” Asked Robert, snapping Lucien out of his thoughts. The older man had pushed his sunglasses back up his nose and was holding Betsy in his arms. “Are you afraid of dogs?”

“Allergic,” he muttered quietly. “Keep it away from me.” His mind was still telling him to scream at Robert despite himself.

Robert just sighed and started to walk to the side gate. “Sorry kid. I’ll fix the hole in the fence. Betsy won’t come over here anymore.”

“Whatever…” Lucien quickly rushed back inside and locked the door behind him. He felt like his skin was covered in hundreds of small biting insects that were simultaneously trying to bury and burst through his skin. It made him feel sick. 

He must have been downstairs for a while, because Ernest was soon looking for him. “Lucien? What’s taking you so long?”

“… Nothing. I’m fine. Wanna watch long haul paranormal ice road ghost truckers?”

Ernest didn’t seem that convinced that Lucien was fine, but he let it go for now. “Sure. As long as it isn’t that rerun they play all the time.”

Lucien chuckled a little and walked to the lounge room and turned on the TV. “Which one?”

“The one where Callum and Flynt attempt to fix their engine but there’s a blizzard and the spark plugs are haunted.”

“Hey, that’s a classic. But it’s a new episode today.”

“Awesome.” The two of them settled into the couch to see if Callum and Flynt finally died, made it to their destination, or if they would finally perform an exorcism on their haunted truck. Perhaps even a combination of all three was in the cards tonight.


	7. A head's up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm getting super excited for Halloween. Truth be told I got so excited I actually have already written the next chapter for this, but I had to split it into three because damn I wrote way too much and stuff. Plus editing that much in one go is a bitch. So expect a new chapter tomorrow at least XD

Things were getting weird in the cul-de-sac. Just looking out the window of his front room, Robert watched Craig taking his girls on a run after school, Mat and Brian’s girls playing a rather intense game of catch, Damien and Hugo’s kids kicking a ball around the street, and the Christiansen kids were constantly running from the front yard to the backyard. This was not normal.

He spotted Mary on a lawn chair in her yard keeping an eye on her kids, so he went out to investigate. She waved at him when he got close. “Hey their sailor. You need something?”

“Why are all the kids acting like they ate too many sugar cookies?”

Mary snorted and leaned back in her seat. “It all started with that bitch Helen. She runs the PTA with her cyborg copies; Sharron and Carol… Fuck, just saying their names makes me want to drink a whole bottle of port in one sitting…”

Just their names sent a chill down Robert’s spine. If there was one creature he truly feared it would be the deadly and lethal suburban mum. “What did those witches do?”

“Well, Sharron saw some documentary about how much sugar is in typical store bought foods and lost her shit. So she told Helen and Carol about it and they both lost their shit and started to petition the school to do more healthy shit.” She reached under her chair and pulled up a water bottle filled with some kind of blue liquid.

“… What alcohol is that?”

“Some blueberry fruit juice. Not alcoholic.” She took a swing of it. “Lovely. Anyway, the principle caved and there’s some stupid school sports thing happening this week. When Craig found out he went crazy and started to take his kids on runs. Mat and Brian know their kids aren’t super athletic but hey, if they want to participate in something, why not some throwing event?”

Robert looked over at the two girls and nodded a little. They seemed to be pretty good at it. “Makes sense.”

“Yeah. Dames and Hugo somehow managed to talk their kids into going outside and kicking a ball around. I’m waiting for one of them to snap and tackle the other one, and my kids… Well they are hyped up on sugar cookies. Except this one.” She pointed down to the baby carrier next to her. “Robert, meet Crish. Crish, meet Robert. Crish, feel free to vomit on him.”

Robert looked down at the baby carrier and was met with the big brown eyes of a little brunet baby. He was in a pastel pink onesie and chewing on a toy bunny. He looked way more like Mary than her other kids did.

“Huh. He’s a cutie. Looks like you too.” He crouched down and poked Crish’s cheek. This made the baby gurgle and squeal with delight. “… Mary, I think I broke your kid.”

“Well shit. You break it, you bought it.” She sipped her juice. “Have fun trying to breast feed the little shit.”

“Yeah, no. I’m a bit flat in the chest department. Besides, I already told you I’m not good at raising kids.” He sat next to Mary on the ground and sighed heavily. “So all the dads are getting really into this sport thing right?”

“Yep. Feeling left out?”

“No.” He was feeling a little left out. It was hard not to feel that way when you lived in a community that was full of parents whose kids were still in school. He was just lucky he’d always been more of an introvert rather than an extrovert. He’d probably feel even worse than he did now if he wasn’t. At least he had Mary.

Either through her fuchsbau senses or just because she was who she was, Mary didn’t buy his answer for a second. “I got roped into some bullshit thing on Friday. Some dumb sports carnival thing. I just have to hand out water to people. Want to come along and help keep my sanity?”

“Sure. Maybe people won’t bother you as much if I’m helping you out?”

“Maybe.” She swirled her drink around in her bottle a little. “So you didn’t mention your tea with Damien. Was it really that bad? Dames thought you two hit it off pretty well… From the way he was talking it almost seemed a little too well…”

Robert shrugged. He had taken the opportunity to snoop around Damien’s house to see what kind of a person he was. He had deemed Damien as eccentric but overall harmless. “Nah, he’s cool. Just didn’t think there was much to say when we met up. He’s a nice enough guy.”

“Good. My special boy is damn freaking amazing.”

“Yeah, you have any idea what a sweet pea flower means?”

“What?”

Robert shrugged. “Damien gave me one before I left. I’m too lazy to look up what it means. You got any clue or should I just look it up?”

“Give me a second…” Mary thought hard about it for a few minutes. “I think it means something like goodbye? But like a happy goodbye? Like he enjoyed spending time with you kind of thing? Was it just a sweet pea?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, it was a happy goodbye.” 

“That’s good I guess,” muttered Robert. His thoughts started drifted towards the Gothic gentleman, that was until Crish started crying and made him jump. “Shit Mary, your kid is loud as hell.”

“Yep. Little guy takes after me.” She picked up Crish and quickly sniffed his butt. “… Don’t need to change you.” She quickly checked his face and hands. “No scratches or nasty bug bites… You want to get fed? Yeah, that’s probably it, you little chubby cheeks you.” With one swift motion she had flung her jumper off and onto Robert and started to unbutton her white blouse with one hand. “You’re not gonna freak out if I flash my tit to feed my kid are you?”

Robert rolled his eyes and lazily folded Mary’s jumper. “Mary, I have seen your tits more times than I have fingers on my hands. Besides, what kind of trash person would deny a baby their food? Go ahead. Feed your kid.”

“Good.” Mary unhooked one of her bra cups and freed her breast. Seconds later Crish was happily feeding and no longer crying. She hummed a little as she gently rubbed small circles into Crish’s back. “… When was the last time you saw my tits anyway?”

“When you flashed that one guy so I could sneak out of that wesen club undetected.” Robert couldn’t help but chuckle at that memory. “I still can’t believe that was your go to distraction.”

“I can’t help it if my boobs have the power to enchant and confuse men, and that one woman… Still can’t believe that one worked.”

“I told you she was a lesbian.” That was one weird weekend, but still lots of fun. “I’m still not convinced your boobs don’t have the power to bewitch people. Damn near stunned me the first time I saw your puppies on display.”

The two shared a brief laugh before they were so suddenly interrupted by Joseph. “Must you two really talk about such things where the neighbour’s children can hear, and in front of Crish?”

“Yes,” said Mary. “Because people have the right to know I once used to know what it was like to be young and have fun.”

Robert just glared at him. “Touch me and I am breaking your fingers.”

Joseph held his hands up in surrender. “Trust me, I’m not going to touch you.”

“… Mary should I be feeling relief or insulted?”

Mary shrugged. “I’d go with relief with a hint of confusion, anger, and hunger.” She sipped her juice. “I’m hungry.”

Joseph sighed a little and reached out for Crish. “Then let me hold him while you go and get something to eat.”

“Oh hell no.” Mary pushed him away with her foot. “I’m staying right here till Crish is done. You have any idea how much it hurts to pull someone off your tit when they are in the middle of sucking on it? Okay, dumb question…”

Joseph went bright red. “Mary. Must you say such things in public?”

Robert did his best to suppress a giggle, but it still slipped out anyway. “She’s the most entertaining thing here. If you didn’t want her to say those things you’d keep it in your pants.”

Joseph gave Robert a death glare. “Please keep out of this, Grimm. For your own safety.”

Robert could feel a mild tingling sensation racing from his tattoo and up his arm. Was it possible that Joseph didn’t have to touch the tattoo for it to work? He hoped that wasn’t the case. If it was Robert was going to have to repeatedly stab Joseph and dump his body in the bay. Though he didn’t like his chances at using cursed tattoo as a legal defence.

Mary woged and growled at Joseph. “Don’t you dare start this Joseph. You can’t just throw around the G word like it’s some well-known thing like your infidelity. Unlike you, Robert could very well die if say Craig or Damien felt threatened by him… Maybe Hugo if he really needed to… Mat would lure him into a trap and let a swarm of rats take care of it, and Brian could rig your house into a death trap if he really needed to… Either way shut up.”

“Seriously, what is Brian?” Whined Robert. 

Joseph seemed surprised by this. “You still don’t know?”

“Why the hell would I know?” He snapped. “I’m never awake when Brian is about doing stuff and when I am out doing stuff he’s usually asleep.”

Mary chuckled and woged back. “His frustration amuses me.” She gently bounced Crish on her lap to see if he was done feeding yet. He was not. “Don’t you have cookies to bake, or did you just come out here to annoy me?”

“I was checking up on the children.”

“I drink at night and at your little get togethers,” muttered Mary bitterly. “I am more than sober enough during the day to take care of my kids. You’re not the only one that cares about the little bastards you know.”

“Mary, don’t swear in front of Crish.”

Sensing a potential domestic dispute on his hands Robert very quickly and quietly withdrew from their lawn and headed back to his place. He assumed he would be safe from one angry fuchsbau mamma and an upset ziegevolk.

***

It had been a few days since that awkward encounter with Mary and Joseph. In that time the sudden health kick in the cul-de-sac seemed to reach fever pitch. It was really, really weird to see all the kids running around all the time. He nearly hit one of Craig’s twins when he tried to reverse out his driveway.

It was just chaos. Complete and utter chaos. He couldn’t count the number of times a stray ball had hit his house or somehow managed to add a new ding to his truck. His main hope was that everyone would calm the fuck down once this week was over and he wouldn’t have to worry about someone putting a ball through the window of his house, truck or smashing a tail light.

The only other interesting thing that had happened besides the fitness insanity was that Mary was bringing Damien along for drinks a lot more. He didn’t look like it, but he could hold his liquor just as good if not better than Mary. It was very impressive and nice to have him around, but it meant Robert couldn’t talk Grimm and wesen things with Mary.

Around the middle of the week instead of drinking Robert decided to go up to his thinking spot with Betsy to whittle. It was this little place just off the main road that over looked Maple Bay. He had accidentally stumbled across this spot while he was just exploring the area.

He was sitting in the flat bed of his pickup truck while Betsy snuffled around his lap, checking to see if he had any treats on him. At the moment, he did not. He only had pats for her. She was satisfied with that. For the moment.

Robert was in the middle of whittling a little fox when his phone went off. For some reason Val was calling him again. He hesitated for a moment, like he always did when she made first contact, but he answered anyway. He always did.

“Hey Val, is something wrong?”

“Maybe? I’m not sure. I’m pretty sure this is Grimm business. I want your opinion on it.”

He put away his whittling equipment and gave Val his full attention. “Okay, shoot.”

“Well, apparently there have been a few small clusters of murders along the coast. Normal stuff really, people dump bodies off the coast all the time, but things are kind of weird.”

“How so?”

“Lots of them are missing their organs. Heard that they’ve been removed with surgical precision. Thought it might be wesen related. What do you think?”

Robert thought for a moment and carefully thought about what wesens removed organs. “Any particular organ or just whatever? Do you know if they were dead or alive when it happened?”

“Organ type doesn’t seem to matter and I have no idea if it was post or pre mortem.”

Only one wesen came to mind when indiscriminate organ removal came to mind. It was quite a grizzly spectre of death. A vulture-type wesen. They were sadistic wesen that removed organs with no anaesthetic. They were pretty weak on their own but always travelled in groups.

“Sounds like the work of a geier to me,” said Robert. “Have some long range and short range weapons. They like climbing things and their claws can be as sharp as scalpels.”

“Will do old man,” said Val. “Don’t they harvest human organs for homeopathic wesen remedies?”

“Yeah. That’s kind of their whole shtick.”

Val was quiet for a moment. “I don’t think they are hunting humans.”

“Huh?”

“Look, I knew one of the guys that got harvested. I just saw him every now and then so I didn’t know him personally but I know he was a blutbad. No one goes after a blutbad unless they want a real fight on their hands.”

Robert had to agree, this was odd for a geier to go after other wesen. “Must be restocking their supplies for some powerful spells. Either that or they got a special order from a hexenbiest.” Robert really didn’t like dealing with them. They were much more trouble than they were worth. “If they were after wesen parts than lord help the poor wesen they sink their claws into.”

Val made a noise of disgust. “Christ, I hate geier…”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be on their hit list either. Anything else you need help with? Need me to come back to Boston and help you out on this hunt?”

“What? No dad, I’m fine. I can do this. I just… I guess this is just a heads up?” There was a sound of rustling papers and a clatter of pens. “I went ahead and found this old where house some of the local stoners were staying away from and found what I think was their harvesting room? Maybe? Either way there place was way too clean and I found a list written in some kind of code.”

She sent Robert a picture of it. From the looks of it, it seemed to be some old hexenbiest code. To any normal person it would appear as a random string of numbers and letters that made no sense, but when the right letters were put in, everything would morph and change into something legible. It would be tricky without the actual physical paper, but Robert could probably crack this code, or get Mary to do it.

“I guess if you found their harvest room, they might be on the move,” said Robert. “Do you think they are going to hit Maple Bay next?”

“Maybe? They seem to skip every two or three towns, so you might be safe. I’m getting my girlfriend to see if she can solve this.”

Robert was surprised to hear this. “You have a girlfriend? Is she a Grimm too?”

“She’s a scharfblicke.”

A scharfblicke was an owl wesen. They do small jobs for people here and there and are very good at keeping secrets. He was surprised that it was possible for a Grimm to have a romantic relationship with a wesen, but he was happy for her. Val deserved something good in her life. He wanted to ask more about her and Val’s life. She had just given him that opportunity to do so, but his throat wouldn’t let him say it. Instead he seemed to go on automatic. 

“Well thanks for the heads up. I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for any geier that might be headed my way. Tell me what’s on the list when you finally translate it. I’ll talk to you then.”

“… Okay dad. It should be done in a day or two. Keep those organs of yours safe.” Her voice was filled with disappointment. 

“I will Val. Bye.” He hung up and quickly started to whittle. He had fucked up with Val, again. She wanted to talk, again. She was opening up, again. He shut her out, again. 

“Boof!” Betsy had jumped onto his lap and curled up. She snuffled at some random black stain on his jeans. Probably oil.

He sighed a little and gave her a few good pats. “Geier… Why did it have to be geier? Big old nasty vulture people… You better keep an eye out for any weird new people around town Betsy. Things are going to get bloody.”

“Boof.”

“Yeah, I know I’m getting too old for this shit. But I can do it. I’m not that old.”

“Arf.”

“Yes, I’ll try not to throw out my back.”

“Woof.”

“Or my knees.”

“Arf.”

“What are you, my chiropractor now?”

“Bork.”

“Explains where you run off to during the day.”


	8. Plain sight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Geier; (Gy-er) a vulture-like wesen. The are very communal group, often living and working in groups of their own kind. They are extremely sadistic, taking pleasure in the pain of others. They gut humans for homeopathic remedies and aphrodisiacs for the benefit of the wesen community.
> 
> Hey, so here is the next chapter as promised. Expect another chapter upload tomorrow and the day after. They fit very well into Halloween, so why the heck not? Time to get spoopy.

Life, as Robert had decided, was no longer worth living. He couldn’t remember if he actually agreed to help Mary out with the school sports day thing, but there he was, sitting in some random stall with Mary handing out cups of water while kids were running, jumping, screaming and doing all kinds of things. He considered stabbing himself to get out of this, but he knew Mary would have none of it.

He was actually surprised that Mary had been roped into this since she didn’t have kids going to this particular school. Apparently it was one of those schools that got so big it had two campuses. One for you younglings and one for the older ones. Surprisingly it only had one PTA. Robert was glad he didn’t have to deal with that stuff anymore.

Though the most surprising thing to him was that Mary was dressed in more sport appropriate clothes today. She had ditched her pencil skirt and brown jumper for a pastel blue polo and galaxy yoga pants. When he asked her about her choice of pattern she just shrugged and said, “My ass is out of this world.” Robert couldn’t really argue with that. 

He ended up fiddling on his phone for most of the time in between refilling cups of water. It was fine really. He didn’t care. At least he could make idol chat with Mary when she wasn’t screaming on the other kids from the cul-de-sac.

A little around midday Robert finally got a call back from Val. It had been a few days since she had warned him about the geier. She probably had some of the hexenbiest code translated by now. All he had to do now was talk to Val, and try to talk to her about her, and not just Grimm stuff.

“Hey Val. Find out what that paper says yet?” He was not off to a good start.

“Some of it. Ever heard of a white noise curse?”

“Nope.”

“Me either. Anyway, I’m not too sure what it does, but it mainly requires plant ingredients with one acceptation… and apparently it’s the most important and kind of hard to get.”

“What is it?” Robert could only assume it was either a human body part or a wesen body part that they probably needed to keep living.

“Murciélago vocal cords.”

“Oh… That’s… How many do they need?”

“Just one set. I think there’s some side note about it, but I haven’t gotten that far yet… Thought you should know since you have Murciélago’s living next to you. Think they can take on a group of geier and come out on top?”

Robert reckoned Damien could beat the hell out of one or two, five tops. But he didn’t seem like the most physically fit guy on the block. “Well damn… Okay, thanks. Call me back when you translate the last of it.” 

Without even thinking he hung up, and immediately regrated it. He completely forgot to ask her how she was, what she was doing, or anything about her life in general. He just slipped into Grimm mode and got straight to business. It left him with an uncomfortable knot in the pit of his stomach.

Uncomfortable feelings aside, he needed to tell Mary about this latest development. “Hey Mary, remember how I mentioned that some geier might be drifting through Maple Bay and harvesting organs of human and wesen alike?”

Mary looked over at him, frowning a little. “Yeah? Why do you ask?”

“Well they are probably gathering things for a hexenbiest to make a thing called white noise curse. The key ingredient is Murciélago vocal cords.”

“…” Mary crushed the plastic cup in her hand. “If one of them lays a claw on my special boy, I’m going to fuck them up.” She grabbed her phone and started texting madly. Probably to check on Damien.

“Has Damien talked about meeting anyone new, or groups of new people?” He had no idea how these geire were picking their victims but they weren’t going to split off from each other for long periods of time to do it. That just wasn’t their style.

“He hasn’t mentioned anything… But my special boy isn’t an overly observant person…” She quickly pounded away at the keys on her phone for a few minutes before quickly putting it away. “Okay, all good. I’m going to be on Damien like a hawk till this is over. Go and fix it.”

Robert waved her off. “I’m working on it.” He had actually been looking at any large unoccupied buildings in the area that were suddenly bought up or just seemed to have more people around it for seemingly no reason. He was actually going to check out an abandoned abattoir just on the other side of town when Mary let him go.

“You’re just sitting on your fat ass playing with your phone.” 

Robert rolled his eyes. “One day I have a fine piece of ass and the next it’s fat. Which is it?”

“The more I look at you without the haze of beer goggles the more you look like a fat ass.”

“Rude.” He grabbed one of the cups and took a drink. “I’d be off doing my Grimm stuff if you hadn’t dragged me here. Got my machete all nice and sharp under the seat of my truck, and a loaded gun with extra clips in the glove box.” The gun was a lie.

Mary sighed a little and leaned back dramatically in her chair. “… Fine, I guess making sure Dames is fine and won’t get chopped up into little bits is more important than you keeping me company.”

“Thanks.” He got out of his chair and tossed his plastic cup into a small bin. “Glad to see you’re taking my safety into consideration with this.”

“You’re a Grimm. What the hell do you have to be afraid of?”

“… If wesen aren’t afraid of me they want to kill me.”

“Point taken. Now go do your thing.” She shoved his arm and went back to filling up cups.

Robert giggled a little to himself and went off back to his truck. He was lucky he got there relatively early and didn’t have to park down the street. He was even more lucky, considering a good chunk of parking spaces were taken up by some health department trailer. He assumed that this was the part of that whole vaccination thing some of the parents were talking about.

Walking past it there was an overwhelming smell of antiseptic and other gross chemicals. Robert never liked those kinds of smells. They made his skin feel all itchy and gross. Especially bleach. Bleach was the worst, but it was damn good at cleaning up a crime scene when needed. 

Robert wasn’t too proud of it, but he was quite good at cleaning up a crime scene. Only because it was hard to convince the police that you were killing a giant snake monster since wesen woge back to human from when dead.

As he drove out to the abandoned abattoir he wondered if he should get a few tanks of petrol in case he needed to burn the whole place down. He also contemplated where to get a few sturdy gallon drums and acid. Only for emergencies of course. There was a fine line between being a Grimm and being a serial killer at times.

***

Ernest and Lucien had ditched the school sports festival in favour of hiding on the school roof. Neither of them fancied themselves as sports stars or anything close to it As far as they were concerned today was just a free day off school before the weekend. It was almost a three day weekend. Almost. They still had to stay at school which sucked.

Ernest watched Lucien as he skilfully carved a snake into the concrete with his claws. He had come to school woged and wasn’t showing any signs of changing back anytime soon. Lucien just seemed more stressed out than usual ever since he confronted Robert in his backyard.

With the way he was acting Ernest was sure that Robert had said something really fucked up to him or threatened him somehow. If that was the case Ernest had no problem goring Robert. Heck, he’d even go full woge, cover himself in glow in the dark paint stand in his backyard like a creepy bastard. He wasn’t going to let anyone fuck with Lucien. 

Wesen had to stick together. It was them against the world. Sure there was a lot of wesen in fighting between predator and prey species, but they all generally got along. As far as Ernest knew the biggest and longest feud was between the wolfish blutbad’s and the pig-like bauerschwein’s. But apart from that they stuck together.

“You feeling any better now?”

Lucien grunted in response and continued to scratch out the snake.

Ernest sighed and continued to watch him work. It never ceased to amaze him how sharp Lucien’s claws remained even after digging into something as hard as concrete. He was surprised they didn’t chip or crack. One of the perks of being a murciélago he guessed.

“Still can’t woge back?”

Lucien grunted in annoyance. His ears wiggled a little, earning a small chuckle from Ernest, which annoyed Lucien even more and made him wiggle is ears again. Ernest wondered if Lucien knew he did that when he was woged? It was kind of cute, though there was no way he’d ever seriously admit it.

Despite Lucien calling himself a monster and Ernest even saying he was pretty ugly, he had to admit there was a certain charm to his woged look. It was probably because he himself was wesen so he didn’t find wesen forms as horrific as most people would. He also considered that since he was just hitting puberty that there was a very real chance that he might be gay or bi or something else. But he’d deal with those feelings as they came.

Ernest looked out over the school oval and cringed. The last few events of the day were wrapping up. Soon they could get off the roof and start to actually enjoy their weekend. Ernest was planning on going to the movies to see a romcom.

He sighed a little and walked around the roof, stopping briefly to have a look down at the parking lot. They had set up all their stuff in the gym meaning he had to run laps outside when he had gym that week. It sucked a fat one, so he had decided to spray paint the trailer those nurses had toed in for their vaccinations.

However on the day he planned to do it he had gotten spooked. Ernest had crouched behind a dumpster and was waiting for them to all leave when he saw it happen. Two of the nurses were arguing about something when they both woged. They had long hooked noses that looked like bird beaks and very long sharp talons on their hands. He had no idea what wesen they were, but Ernest was smart enough to know not to piss them off. He had to abort his mission.

He walked back over to Lucien to see he was now scratching random patterns into the ground. If he was trying to make some large scale art piece he didn’t know. But it looked pretty cool to him.

“Neat… So you still got detention today?”

Lucien nodded and whispered quietly. “Yeah, last day. I’ll text you when I’m done. I wanna burn shit tonight.”

Ernest chuckled a little. “Yeah, I’ll find something we can burn. Dry trash, some wood, some homework maybe?”

“Sounds nice.” Lucien sat back and violently shook his head, somehow managing to force himself to woge back to normal. “Ow… I think I gave myself whiplash… There has to be an easier way to woge… Maybe I should see a doctor about this?”

Ernest shrugged. “Maybe. You gonna head off to detention now?”

Lucien stood up and stretched. “Yeah, I guess. Don’t need another reason for my dad to give me the disappointed sigh. Later loser.” He ruffled Ernest’s hair as he walked past him.

Ernest rolled his eyes and followed him. “Bat brain.”

***

Robert pulled up outside the abattoir. The chain link fence had long rusted away and thick tufts of grass had grown through the concrete leading up to the building. The exterior was covered in graffiti that was peeling off in chunks.

Robert took his machete out from under his seat and headed over to the huge rusted door. He gave it a hard shove and was pleased to hear the wheels squeak and screech open. He took a few steps inside, a little surprised to see several beer cans and broken beer bottles around.

As Robert got deeper into the building the unmistakable smell of stale piss started to fill the air. If he had to make an educated guess, this place was more of an edgy kids hang out rather than a makeshift organ harvester’s den.

Truth be told there was only one room he needed to check out to make sure that there were no geier’s hanging around here. The walk in fridge. The abattoir wasn’t very big so Robert didn’t have too much trouble finding it.

He wrenched the heavy door open, and was pleased to see that it looked just as shitty as the rest of the building. It didn’t smell at all like bleach either, just more stale piss and old beer. There was no way any geier would attempt to remove any organs in a filthy hovel like this if they could help it.

Concluding that this place was just a rundown mess, Robert went back to his truck. He pulled a map out of the glove box and scribbled out the mark he made over the abattoir. Next up was a small building by the docks.

He started to drive in that direction, wondering if he should even be getting this worked up. There was no real indication that the geier were actually in Maple Bay, but his paranoia was telling him they were hunting. They were going to find their target eventually and gut them, and if he didn’t stop them, he was going to feel guilty.

He was a Grimm. He was meant to hunt down the bad wesen and kill them. He couldn’t let murderers keep on living to kill again. Especially if it was due to some compulsion that they claimed that they couldn’t control. That was just bad for everyone. Everyone had free will. Everyone had a choice. 

He was about halfway to the docks when he ran into some road works. Robert sighed dramatically. It was going to take him twice as long now. Suddenly his phone started to ring. Val was calling again. It had been a few hours so she probably found out something about the geier’s, and since he wasn’t moving any time soon he saw no harm in answering his phone while driving.

“Hey Val. So did you figure out what that last bit of that paper said?”

“Yeah.” She said. “Looks like your Murciélago neighbour isn’t going to get offed by any geier any time soon.”

That was good news. He’d have to go and call Mary up and let her know. “Well that’s some good news.”

“I guess, but paraphrasing the note, it pretty much says that they need young Murciélago vocal cords. Anything older than twenty five is useless.”

“Well that’s good. You have any idea how they find their victims?”

“Still looking in on that… But there have been pop up clinics near to where some of the bodies have been found? It isn’t much to go on since the doctors there seem to be on a constant rotation or something. Maybe they are doctors or nurses? Does that help out at all?”

“Eh, kind of? I’ll let you know if I manage to find their nest and get them.” He was about to hang up on her, but managed to stop himself, if only just. “So how has your week been?”

“Oh,” Val sounded surprised. “Pretty good. But I’m kind of behind with work and stuff at the moment, and I need to get back to it if I want to go home before midnight.”

“Oh…”

“Sorry. Any other day I would love to talk to you, but just not now.”

“Yeah, it’s fine Val. You got your own life and all that. We’ll talk later.” He hung up and sighed. Just his luck he would attempt to strike up a conversation with her when she was busy.

At least he knew Mary wouldn’t have to go crazy looking out for Damien until the geier’s were gone. They could just go back to knocking back a few drinks at Jim and Kim’s. It was just lucky that Damien was too old for them to attack. They needed a younger Murciélago, and they weren’t going to find one around Maple Bay. 

However he couldn’t help but feel that he was forgetting something rather important. Didn’t Damien have a son, Lucien?

“Fuck!”


	9. Abduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again no new terms. Hope you all like this more suspense driven chapter. Got to admit, it was fun to write.

On any other day Lucien would have been home by now. However this week was not a normal week for him. Actually, that’s a lie. He seemed to get detention every other month for something. He was trying to not get in trouble as much, even if it was only for his dad’s sake, but it was hard sometimes. At least he had finished up this week’s round of detentions and didn’t have to bother with it anymore.

He grabbed his bag from his locker and walked outside. He wondered if he dad was back from work yet. If he was, he could swing by and give Lucien a ride home. However if he did that, he was going to have to listen to Damien asking him a million questions, or sit in awkward silence. Neither option suited Lucien very well.

Lucien took his phone out of his pocket and quickly checked to see if he had any texts. Just one from his dad saying he was going to be a little late getting home and one from Ernest saying he found stuff to burn.

He quickly messaged his dad, telling him he just finished detention and would be home in twenty minutes. He also messaged Ernest and told him to meet him at his place. He’d probably swing by a convenient store and grab some snacks on the way home. 

The black market oregano trade had skyrocketed recently so he had extra cash to splash. It made him wonder if people were really getting high from smoking oregano, or if oregano was suddenly really had to get these days. Either way he had money.

The sound of a door slamming made him jump a little and almost drop his phone. Looking back at the school building he could see some nurses moving things from the gym to the car park. They had been vaccinating kids all week and had finally wrapped it up. He hated getting needles. They hurt a lot more than getting a stick and poke or piercings. He was woged the entire time the nurse had jabbed him.

He shuddered at the memory and walked through the almost vacant parking lot. He stuck his ear buds in and started playing some MCR. He’d probably be able to get through about seven songs before he got home.

Suddenly someone touched his arm and he spun around. It was an older lady in a white polo shirt with some hospital logo on it. Lucien recognised her as one of nurses giving injections throughout the week. “Yes?”

“Sorry to bother you dear,” she said. “But would you mind helping me pick up a box? It’s just by my car and I’ve pulled something in my back so I can’t bend over to get it.”

“Um, sure…” He was a little taken back by any adult asking him for help. Her back must have been pretty wrecked if she was asking him for help. Lucien followed her back to her car and picked up a heavy box of what he assumed were documents of some sort. “So, where do you want these?”

“Just in the boot. It’s unlocked,” she said.

Lucien cracked open the boot of the car and put the box inside. “Was that everything? Oh fuck!”

Looking back at the nurse he was a little more than surprised to see she had woged. Her skin was more wrinkly, her eyes had gone completely black, her hands had elongated and grown talons, and her nose had become larger and more hooked much like that of a vulture’s beak.

He woged as he jumped back a little, almost falling into the boot of the car. Every now and then he’d see another wesen woge around Maple Bay, but he never really paid much attention to it so it wasn’t like this was the first time seeing someone not from the cul-de-sac woging. But it was still a surprise when someone would just woge out of the blue like that.

Before he could say anything the woman stuck a syringe in his arm, injecting something into him before quickly jumping back. The affect is almost instant; his vision went blurry, his limbs turned to jelly, and he fell into the boot, hitting his head on the way down.

The vulture wesen was leering over him in seconds and waved over another few vulture wesen. They quickly got to work binding and gaging Lucien with duct tape. Through the drug induced haze he could hear them talking in fragmented sentences.

“Last one… All good?”

“You …Sauver Sa Peau?”

“Don’t worry… After this… Heading down south.”

“What about… Burn it, maybe?”

“We can sell… Can get a lot for it.”

He felt one of them stick another needle in his arm and inject something that made his muscles burn. That was the last thing he felt before his body completely gave up on him and he lost consciousness. 

***

Robert had a very bad feeling in his guts that something was deathly wrong. Maybe it was because he knew the geier were targeting a kid and his dad instincts were kicking in, or many it was his inner Grimm telling things were bad. He fumbled with his phone, quickly calling Mary and putting it on speaker as he raced back to the cul-de-sac.

“Hey Robert,” said Mary in a mildly cheerful voice. “Look, Damien’s home everything’s good. No geier are gonna get their talons on him.”

“It’s not Damien they want.”

“Huh? But you said that-”

“Oh, they still want those vocal cords, but Damien’s too old. I guess his vocal cords aren’t fresh enough for them.” He screeched his tiers as he stopped at a red light. It was times like this he wished he could just race through them. “They are going after his kid, Mary. They want Lucien.”

“… SHIT!”

“I know!” He started to grip the steering wheel a little tighter then he normally would. He was about to make another stupid decision regarding Damien and his own personal safety. “Look, I’m going to go to Damien’s place and see if his kid in there. If he isn’t there… I think I’m going to have to tell him I’m a Grimm.”

“What?! Are you suicidal? He’ll kill you where you stand if you tell him that!”

“I know, but I have a strong feeling that his kid’s on the way to the slaughter house. You know damn well as I do that they are not going to stop at his vocal cords.” As soon as the lights turned green, Robert sped off as fast as he could without getting pulled over. “They are going to keep him alive for as long as possible as they pull him apart piece by bloody piece. I think we might stand a better chance of kicking their asses if we have Damien with us.”

“… True, but don’t be stupid. Don’t talk to him until I get there. I’m just at the store.”

“Mary, I have no idea how far away you are and my gut is telling me shit is about to hit the fan.” He pulled into the cul-de-sac and quickly parked.

“Fuck, your gut hasn’t failed you yet… Just don’t do anything stupid. I’m driving back now.” With that she hung up.

Robert sat in his truck for a few moments and glanced over to Damien’s place. His car was in the driveway, so he was home at least. If Lucien was home things were going to get a little weird. If he wasn’t things were also going to get complicated.

“… Fuck it.” He gritted his teeth and walked over to Damien’s house. He quickly slammed the door knocker a few dozen times. There was no telling how Damien would react when he found out that Robert was a Grimm, but there was no going back now.

Damien opened the door and he was looking very, not like himself. He was wearing jeans and a purple polo shirt. He was even wearing huge dorky glasses. He seemed completely flustered that Robert was seeing him in such clothing.

“Robert…” he said quietly. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Please excuse my attire. I just returned from work.”

“Yeah, can we talk inside for a second?”

“Oh, sure. Please, come in.” He stood aside and let Robert in. “What is it you wished to speak of?”

“Do you know where your kid is?”

Damien frowned a little. “Lucien? Has he done something?”

“I repeat; do you know where your kid is?”

Damien sighed a little and picked up his phone, giving Lucien a call. “He’ll be here soon. He texted me twenty minutes ago that he would be home in twenty.”

A horrible sinking feeling started to form in the depths of Robert’s guts. “He’s not going to answer you.”

“… Robert, what’s going on?” He was getting nervous now. “If Lucien did something I’m sure he didn’t mean to, and if he did do something he probably thought it was for a good reason.”

Robert sighed a little. He was never good at this kind of stuff. He was just going to have to come out and say it. There was no other way of doing it. “I know what you are. You’re a Murciélago. A bat type wesen.”

That got Damien to woge. “W-what? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Robert groaned a little and took off his sunglasses and looked at Damien. “Damien, I’m a Grimm. I know what you and your kid are… And let me tell you this now, your kid is not coming home.”

Damien just stood there, frozen in place as he took in every word Robert was saying. Suddenly he dropped his phone and started trembling as he covered his face with his hands. He was completely distraught and looked like he was about to have a panic attack. “No…” he whispered. “No, no, no, no, no… Not Lucien… Not him too…”

He probably should have waited till Mary got here to drop that bombshell on Damien. “I know this is kind of a big thing to drop on you so suddenly. But things are going to be okay. I’ll be able to take you to see him soon.”

“…”

“Dames?”

“Don’t call me that…” He slowly looked up at Robert with what could only be described as animalistic fury. “What did you do to Lucien?”

“What?”

“Don’t play dumb with me Grimm,” he growled. “Did you decapitate him? Strangle him? Shoot him in the head? Did you make it quick or draw it out? Do you bastards get off on murdering my kind? Murciélago and wesen alike?”

“… I think we have a bit of a miscommunication going on here.” Robert took a step back from him. Damien looked like a wild animal about to pounce. Apparently the elegant looking man had way more fight in him than Robert gave him credit for. “I haven’t killed your kid.”

“Then where is he?” Damien snapped. “Where is Lucien?!”

“…” Unable to answer, Robert shrugged. He was also hoping that by some miracle Lucien would either walk through the door or Mary would suddenly walk in and stop the fight that was about to happen. Unfortunately god liked to shit on his life, because no one was coming to get him out of this one.

Realising that Robert wasn’t going to answer him, Damien chuckled darkly and lazily flexed his fingers. He almost looked like he was inspecting his claws just to make sure they were still sharp. “Robert, I am going to fucking rip you apart.” He lunged at Robert.

Robert narrowly managed to avoid getting his chest slashed open by the enraged beast. He grabbed Damien’s outstretched arm and swung him around into his sitting room and knocking him over the back of his couch. With Damien slightly incapacitated, Robert quickly ran into the dining room and ran around to the far side of the old wooden table. 

“Calm down Damien! I didn’t touch your kid!” He yelled.

He quickly went over all available options in his head, none of which would give him a favourable outcome. He could let Damien kill him, which he really didn’t want to do. He could run outside, but this would alert everyone else to his Grimm identity which would also end badly for him. He could kill Damien, but that meant Mary would kill him. He could tell him that he thought geier had grabbed Lucien, but Damien was unlikely to believe him at this point. Best he could do was run around the house and wait till Mary got over to calm Damien out of his murderous rage.

Damien quickly recovered from getting thrown over a couch and followed Robert into the dining room staring him down from the other side of the table. “Lies! That’s what Grimm’s do! You hunt and kill us! It’s kill or be killed when dealing with your filth!”

“This is the exact reason why I didn’t tell you earlier that I was a Grimm!” He grabbed a chair and threw it at Damien and dashed into the kitchen. Things were going to hell really, really quickly. In fact, this was almost a record for him. Next up he was going to run to the library and throw books at him.

The floor in the kitchen was slippery, even with his shoes on, Robert had to grip onto the island countertop to stop himself from sliding into the wall. Though this effort proved pointless as Damien was hot on his heels and slammed into him. They both fell to the floor with a crash, knocking several pots and pans on top of them.

Seizing his opportunity, Damien started to slash at Robert with all he had. He went for his face, neck and chest. “Tell me where Lucien is!” He demanded. “What did you do to him?”

“I didn’t do shit!” Robert grabbed the handle of something heavy and brought it across Damien’s head with a sickening crack. He hit the other man with enough force to knock him off and into the pantry. Robert sat there and watched Damien woge back to his human form. He was probably knocked out. He looked at the cooking implement in his hands, not surprised to see had grabbed a frying pan.

He sighed and slowly got up, groaning a little from the pain in his back. He was getting too old for pointless fighting with the neighbours. He wondered if assaulting Damien with a frying pan would make Mary pissed at him. Probably.

Slowly, Robert walked into the hallway, deciding it was safer to wait for Mary in a room away from Damien. He leaned against the wall and took out a cigarette. He figured he deserved one after getting scratched up as badly as he was. 

He lightly ran his fingers over the scratches on his face and torso and was surprised to realise that they felt no worse than paper cuts. With any luck they would fade in a few days. A week at most. Which was really weird to him. Damien had been so angry and savage, yet he had to have used a considerable amount of control not to rip him open. His shirt however, was ruined.

Suddenly the front door opened and Robert sighed in relief. “Thank fuck. You took your damn time getting here Ma- Oh… It’s you?” To his surprise Hugo’s kid was standing in the doorway looking more than a little freaked out, but he was controlling his woge. Good for him. “What are you doing here kid?”

“… Lucien told me to meet him here.” He seemed a little too stunned to comprehend the gravity of the situation he had found himself in. “Are you okay? What happened to you?”

“… Would you believe me if I said it was a very angry cat?”

“No.”

“Fair enough.” He took a few more puffs from his cigarette before stubbing it out on his jacket. “Well you see kid, what happened was-” The sound of pots clattering in the kitchen signalled Damien was awake, and probably more pissed off than ever. 

Moments later Damien was in the doorway, woged once more with blood dripping from his forehead. Mary was definitely going to kill Robert for that. “You bastard…” He growled out.

“Mr Bloodmarch?” Squeaked out Lucien’s friend.

As soon as Damien realised the kid was there he seemed to go from unbridled rage to protective mode in an instant. “Ernest! Get out of here now!” He snapped. “Robert’s a Grimm! He killed Lucien!”

“WHAT?!” Ernest woged and stared at Robert in abject horror. Robert was never going to be able to be able to get over how terrified wesen children were of him. It hurt every time.

“Quit telling everyone I killed your kid.” Muttered Robert. “I’m pretty sure he’s still alive… Maybe…”

Damien growled at him again. “I’m going to kill you.”

“Hey!” Snapped Mary from the doorway behind Ernest. “No one is killing anyone and another thing, what the hell did you do to Damien?” She quickly went over to him and inspected the cut on his head. “What did the big bad Grimm do to you?”

Damien flinched a little. “He hit me with a frying pan and… wait… you knew he was a Grimm? Mary, he killed Lucien!”

Mary rolled her eyes. “Dames, Robert isn’t a murder happy Grimm, and look you can be pissed off at me later. We have more important things to deal with at the moment.” She looked over at Robert. “We ready to get going?”

“Hey, I still have no idea where we need to go,” said Robert. “Damien, has Lucien been hanging around anyone new?”

“What? No… I… Mary, what is going on?” Damien’s rage had been quelled for now, but it had been replaced with confusion.

Mary sighed a little. “Apparently there are some geier’s traveling along the coast picking off humans and wesen’s.”

“What? But Murciélago’s aren’t used in any homeopathic wesen remedies,” said Damien. “There’s no reason for any geier to want Lucien.”

Robert sighed a little. “I have a contact up in Boston. She found a list of ingredients that a hexenbiest hired them to gather for a white noise curse. I still have no idea what it does, but the main ingredient is a set of young Murciélago vocal cords.” He looked over at Damien, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. “If you know anything at all, it will help us find Lucien.”

“I-I really don’t know…” Damien looked like he was on the verge of tears. He clung to Mary and started shaking. “He’s gone, isn’t he?”

“What the hell is a geier?” Asked Ernest.

Robert almost forgot Ernest was even there. “Geier’s are big ass vulture bastards. Big black eyes, nose looks like a vulture’s beak, long hands with sharp talons. Sadistic fucks.”

“… I think I know who you’re looking for,” said Ernest quietly. At his admittance everyone stopped and started at him, and waited for him to say something. “W-well if you’re looking for new people the only really new people I know are the people that were giving us vaccinations at school this week. They are the only new people around Maple Bay that I know and I saw one of them woge the other day…”

Robert was surprised to say the least. But it made sense for geier to be in a medical profession. They could easily screen healthy candidates and with access to their medical history finding where their targets lived no problem. “And you didn’t tell anyone?”

“Hey! I see random wesen around Maple Bay all the time!” Snapped the orange hoodie gremlin. “How was I meant to know these ones were after people’s organs?!”

Robert looked over at Mary. “Mary, bring the minivan around. Damien, if you’re up for it we could use your help getting your kid back. Ernest… Go home. I have to get some things from my truck.” He quickly left the house and went to his truck, taking out his machete, first aid kit, and his map.

As he gathered those things he saw Mary and Damien rushing over to her house and getting into her minivan, quickly pulling up in front of Robert’s driveway. Mary honked the horn. “Get in loser!”

The second Robert had closed the passenger door Mary started driving towards the school. Robert passed the first aid kit to Damien in the backseat, but paused when he saw Ernest. “… Why is he here?” 

Ernest shoved his hands into his pockets and huffed. “Lucien’s my friend. I’m not letting a Grimm anywhere near him.”

Robert pinched the bridge of his nose, trying very hard not go on a grand lecture about how he as a Grimm, despite being the wesen bogyman, was not about to murder every wesen he saw. “Okay, fine. Ernest can come along. As long as he stays in the minivan at all times.” Things were already complicated enough without having to make sure Ernest didn’t get killed.


	10. The Geier Nest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the last of the daily updates for now. These three chapters were kind of just an impromptu Halloween special thing. Pretty much what I'm saying is don't expect daily chapters for a while. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy this, it's my longest chapter yet.

It didn’t take them too long to get to the school. The trailer was still there in the parking lot, but it looked like they were going to go soon. Ernest confirmed that the trailer definitely belonged to the nurses. Mary parked in the street just a little away from the gate.

She nudged Robert. “Okay, go and do your Grimm thing.”

“Aren’t we going with him?” Asked Damien.

Mary shook her head. “Nah, just let Robert go out there and scare some bastard. It’ll be fine. Go get them big boy.”

Robert rolled his eyes and got out of the minivan. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Nobody do anything stupid while I’m gone. Okay?” He didn’t bother waiting for any of them to say anything before he slammed the door shut and walked onto the school grounds.

The trailer was now hooked up to some beat up looking car. There was no one around. He took his time and inspected the car. Inside the front seat there were fast food wrappers and half a box of uneaten doughnuts. In the back seat were some dirty scrubs and old maps of the forest surrounding Maple Bay. He crouched down and looked at the tires, there was fresh mud caked into the tire tread.

“Excuse me, can I help you?” Robert looked up and saw an old looking woman in a white polo shirt. She looked sweet and harmless enough, but Robert knew better.

He smiled and stood up, groaning a little as he did. His knees were not as good as they used to be. “Maybe you can.” He flashed a smile, putting on the good old Robert charm. “You see, one of my neighbor’s kids has gone and run off. He’s a good kid really. Very punctual, and on time. So his dad was a little concerned when he didn’t come home at the time he said he would.” He took a few steps towards her and smiled. “Have you seen him?”

The woman paused for a moment as if in thought. “I’m sorry dear, but I’m not too sure. This is a high school after all. Lots of kids come and go at the end of the day.”

Robert nodded in agreement. “Very true, but this kid, he’s a little hard to miss you see… He’s about so tall, got one of those emo side fringes going on. I have no idea if it’s meant to be grey or silver… He also has a lot of facial piercings.”

The woman thought for a moment, a slight smile twitching at the corner of her lips. “I think I have seen him around the school, but not today. I guess he must have gotten tied up doing something else.” She walked back to the trailer and opened up the door. “Well I hope you find the poor dear. You’re such a good man helping your neighbor out.”

“Thanks for your time.” He took a few steps away before quickly turning on his heels and walked back towards her. “I almost forgot something very important about him that might jog your memory.” Robert walked over to the trailer door, doing his best to block her only escape.

The woman was either too confident in her own abilities or didn’t notice Robert was blocking her way. She just smiled at him, like he wasn’t even a threat. “Yes dear?”

“He’s a Murciélago.”

The woman’s calm quickly turned to shock as she woged into her true wesen form. When she saw what Robert truly was, she became positively petrified. “A Grimm? In Maple Bay?”

Robert chuckled darkly as he stepped into the trailer, closing the door behind him. “Yeah, I’m the pissed off Grimm of Maple Bay, and you’re going to tell me where Lucien Bloodmarch is. We can either do this the easy way or the hard way.”

She growled at him, getting into a fighting stance and flexing her talons at him. “You know not who you mess with Grimm. This will not end well for you.”

He laughed and cracked his knuckles. “Hard way it is.”

***

Damien was getting nervous. Robert was taking far too long for his liking. “… I’m going to see what’s taking so long.”

Mary quickly reached into the backseat and grabbed him. “No you don’t. Let Robert do his thing. He’s good at it.”

“… How long have you two been doing this?” He asked. “How long has it been?” He watched as Mary furrowed her brows and looked out the window. “Mary, how long have you two been doing this kind of thing?”

“Back in collage… For about six months.”

“Mary!”

“It was fun Dames!” She snapped. “It was a thrill, an adventure! It was something I had never experienced before in my life and I loved every second we spent together.”

“… When I first met him, how long had you two started this wesen, Grimm affair of yours?”

Mary groaned and shook her head. “Jeeze Dames. Robert and I had only known each other for a month at the time.”

“Mary! You had been with Joseph two months before all this! How could you cheat on him with Robert like that?!”

Mary whipped her head around so fast she looked like she gave herself whiplash. “Damien! What the hell? Robert and I have never fucked! We were just friends! What the hell is wrong with you?! Do you think I’m that kind of freak?!”

Damien felt a wave of shame wash over him. He hadn’t meant to accuse her of sleeping with Robert, but it just sort of slipped out. He could still remember Robert being quite handsome in their youth, but that wasn’t the point. “I’m sorry Mary… It just slipped out.”

She sighed a little. “Whatever Dames… So Ernest, you know anything about Grimm’s?”

Ernest jumped a little when someone actually acknowledged him actually being in the minivan. “Oh, um… Not that much… They’re the stuff of nightmares. They can see us when we don’t want to be seen, they have some kind of sixth sense to just know where we are and they just…” He looked down at his lap and shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket. “They good at fighting, scary good… Really good Grimm’s don’t need weapons to kill you… And they kill any wesen they come across…”

Damien shuddered a little. He knew the stories well. They disgusted him, but as far as he knew they were true, which made Robert an oddity as far as he knew. Grimm’s were merciless murderers. Cold blooded killers. As far as he knew, Robert was just lulling them into a false sense of security so he could kill them all later.

Mary just laughed a little at what Ernest had said. “Yeah, the kill all wesen Grimm’s are all extinct now. Most Grimm’s these days are like Robert and just go after the bad wesen. Robert’s a good guy. I trust him with my life. If anyone can get Lucien back, it’s Robert.”

He still did not understand how Mary could put such faith and trust in some Grimm. Grimm’s were their natural predators. They only lived to hunt and kill wesen kind. Nothing else. Robert was just like them. He had to be. If he wasn’t then that meant he had fallen for…

He didn’t have time to finish his though as Robert had climbed back into the minivan. He had some cuts and bruises on his hands and some fresh blood was splattered across his face. He lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply.

Mary rolled her eyes. “Crack a window Robert, we got a kid in the car.”

Robert rolled his eyes and cracked open a window. “Good news or bad news first?”

“Give us the good news.” Said Mary.

“Okay, good news, Lucien’s still alive and they are holding out in some cabin in the woods. I also have the location of said cabin.”

“Then let’s go!” Said Damien. “We cannot waste a second longer.”

“And here’s the bad news…” muttered Robert. He took a bloodied and screen cracked phone out of his pocket. “I managed to grab this off the bloody bitch before I knocked her out, but I’m not good with tech. The GPS location is in her phone. You any good with phone stuff Ernest?”

“… Define good.”

Damien rolled his eyes and grabbed the phone. “Just give it to me you fool.” He quickly searched through the phone before he found what they needed. “Here.” He passed it back to Robert.

Robert took it and grinned. “Thanks Damien. Didn’t think you’d be helping out in this way. Okay Mary, We’re rolling out.”

***

Lucien had no idea what was going on. He’d been drifting in and out of consciousness for what felt like years. When he could focus he could hear the car engine rumbling and the sound of tires on road. His ears were trying to tune into his surroundings forcing the constant image of the car boot into his head. 

That at least made it clear to him he was still in wesen form. Though he didn’t know how. His dad had always told him that his wesen form would hold only as long as he wanted it to and as long as he was awake. His kidnappers had done something to him.

Eventually the sound of tiers on paved road changed to the sound tiers on a dirt road. He couldn’t tell when that happened. He felt sick, but his stays in the waking world were slowly getting longer and more manageable. He tried to make a clicking noise in an attempt to give himself a clearer vision of the boot, but he couldn’t.

Suddenly the car softly rolled to a complete stop. The boot of the car was wrenched open and the vulture wesen pulled him out. They were talking and Lucien was grateful that he could now hear what they were saying and it wasn’t fragmented.

“Is it time?”

“Soon.”

“Will it be slow?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Are you absolutely sure we have the right one?”

“Even if he isn’t that Lucien from the paperwork he’s still a young Murciélago. He’s what we need.”

Lucien tried to squirm and move away from them, but his limbs felt heavy and impossible to move. They were out in the middle of the woods. Probably just outside of Maple Bay. There was a cabin in front of them. It was small, but the lights were on. He didn’t want to go in there. But he had no choice.

These people dragged him to the cabin and knocked on the door. A young woman answered. Despite not woging, it was obvious to Lucien she was one of them. She smelt strongly of antiseptic and other chemicals. She reached out and almost lovingly caressed his neck.

“He’s so young and cute,” she said. “Such a shame we can’t hear this one. I bet he would make such lovely sounds.”

“Control yourself,” said one of the ones holding Lucien up. “Is everything ready?”

She rolled her eyes at them. “Yes, it is. I’m not stupid… Wait, wasn’t she with you? Where’s the trailer?”

“She’s coming soon. He left the building earlier than we thought.”

She sighed a little and stepped aside. “Fine. Just get him ready for surgery.”

A new wave of panic washed over Lucien. Surgery? Why? What was going on? What were they going to do to him? He was scared, more so than he had ever been in his life before. They removed the duct tape on his arms and legs, and strapped him to a gurney. They then started sticking all kinds of needles into his arms, all hooked up to machines that beeped and buzzed.

The young woman stood over him, now properly dressed for surgery. She started touching and caressing his neck again. “So pretty… You have no idea how much I want to hear you scream, and cry, and beg for mummy and daddy to swoop in and save you…” She leaned in close and whispered into his ear. “I love my job. Especially when I get to work with children. Your pain is just so… beautiful.”

“Hey!” Called one of the vulture wesen. “Quit being a sadistic bitch and help get these coolers ready. None of us are getting paid if we fuck this up.”

She sighed a little and pulled herself away from Lucien. “Fine. Are we pickling anything this time?”

Lucien tried to struggle against the restraints on the gurney. His limbs were still too heavy and difficult to move. He couldn’t escape. He was going to die at the hands of some sadistic wesen. They weren’t going to make it quick either. He was going to die slowly, and in pain.

In times like this one might beg for a god’s mercy to save them. Some kind of divine intervention. Anything really. Lucien’s thoughts weren’t begging for salvation, they were instead occupied with begging for forgiveness from his dad. 

He was sorry he wasn’t a better son. He was sorry that he always got into trouble at school. He was sorry he didn’t make better choices. He was sorry that he didn’t tell his dad that he loved him more. Most of all he was sorry that he was going to leave his dad all alone.

***

Between giving Mary directions and searching through the geier woman’s phone, Robert was quite pleased to see that the cabin was one of the spots he had marked on his map. Checking the cabins in the woods surrounding Maple Bay was the next thing to do after the docks. However, in retrospect he should have probably checked the cabins first.

“What’s the plan?” Asked Mary. “You go in first and I block the exit? Then bam, pow, we kick their asses and get Lucien back?”

Robert shrugged. “We need to see how big the cabin is and how many exits there are. We can’t let a single one of them get into the trees or we’re fucked.”

“Why?” Asked Ernest.

Robert glanced at him through the rearview mirror. “Because they are ambush predators and can pretty much move undetected through trees. They also have this gnarly talon on their heels that make them even more dangerous when they jump down on you.”

Everyone fell into an uneasy silence after that. Robert wasn’t sure if it was fueled by Ernest and Damien not truly knowing the gravity of the situation or by him and Mary knowing just what they were getting into. There was going to be a fight. There was going to be blood. Lucien might be split open with his guts pulled out by the time they got there.

“Doesn’t he need to have woged?” Asked Ernest quietly. “Like, you said they need Murciélago vocal cords… Like if he’s still in his human form they won’t hurt him, right?”

There was nothing Robert wanted to do more than reassure him that they wouldn’t hurt him if he didn’t woge, but that would be a lie. They would either start taking his other organs away or torture him till he did woge. Geier were natural sadists.

Luckily for him, Mary quickly took the reins on this question. “There’s a good chance they’re using Sauver Sa Peau on him. It’s a potion that preserves a wesen in full woge after death. Some wesen hunters use it so they can skin other wesen and sell their pelts. A more diluted form can make someone stay in full woge for a few hours.”

She turned off onto a dirt road, driving slowly and as quietly as possible. They were getting closer now. After about ten minutes a cabin and a parked car came into view. Mary pulled to a stop and killed the engine a fair distance from the cabin and turned to Robert, watching him silently.

Robert picked up his machete as he watched the cabin intently. It was small, most likely had only two or three separate rooms. “Okay, here’s the plan; Mary will go around the back and cover the backdoor. Damien will cover the front in case any of them slip out the front. I’m going to go in and kill as many as I can on my own.”

“Do we really have to kill them?” Asked Damien quietly. “I know it’s a stupid thing to ask but I just… Killing them just doesn’t seem right… And you Mary, you’re killing your own kind.”

Mary scoffed at the notion. “Dames, this isn’t time for you to try and take the moral high ground just because you’re scared. These fuckers need to die.”

“But they are wesen… How would killing them make you better than a Grimm? No offence Robert…”

Robert brushed it off. He had been called way worse. “Damien, if these Geier’s were killing for food I would have a little more sympathy for them, but as it stands they only care about money. They are never going to be satisfied with just one more kill and one more paycheck.” He got out of the car and stretched. Today was a good day to hunt.

“What am I meant to do?” Asked Ernest.

Mary rolled her eyes and got out. “Kid, you’re staying in the minivan. It’s too dangerous out here.” She shared a look with Robert. It was the same look they used to share right before they knew something big was about to go down. It was sick, but Robert felt excited.

Damien followed them out, looking sacred, but unwilling to back down. Robert had to admire that about him. Damien was willing to do anything for his kid. Damien nervously cleared his throat. “What now?”

Robert smiled a little. “Like I just said in the van, we’re going around the front, Mary around the back. I go in, kill what I can, and if anything escapes you and Mary kill it. You two might want to suit up for this fight.” The two wesen woged and got into position as Robert walked towards the front door.

***

Lucien had broken into a cold sweat. It was going to happen any second now. They were five standing over him all dressed in their scrubs and surgical masks. They were checking their equipment one last time. Four more were moving unused jars and blood packs back into cardboard boxes, ready to leave when they were done. The sadistic woman from before didn’t leave Lucien’s side. 

She stood near his head, gently stroking his face and neck. She never looked him in the eyes, just at his neck. He knew whatever she wanted in particular was in his throat. His blood maybe? It made him shudder. Maybe she just wanted to scare him? All that he really knew for sure was that this woman was getting a disturbing kick out of this.

“You take such good care of your skin.” She said happily. “Hardly a pimple or blemish to be seen. I’m sure we’ll a good home for your hide. Someone will pay handsomely for it… well at least for your face anyway. Maybe. You devalued yourself by sticking all this nasty metal in it.” She flicked the piercing in his eyebrow and giggled. “Fuck, I want to bite this one off and rip off the rest of your eyebrow.”

A man smacked her in the back of the head. “Calm yourself. You’re way too eager. Go and call her. She’s taking far too long to get here.”

The woman rubbed the back of her head and pouted. “The reception up here is awful. You know we wouldn’t be able to reach them… Can we just start already? I can’t wait any longer.”

“You will wait,” snapped another. “Youth is too impatient. If we rush into things how can we keep him alive for as long as possible? It’s no fun if they die quickly. Stupid child.” Someone knocked at the door. “See, they are here now. You didn’t have to wait long. Someone answer that.”

***

The second the geier answered the door, Robert stabbed them up through the guts and into the lungs with his machete. A quick flick of the wrist ensured that both lungs were cut, or at least punctured. If they didn’t die from blood loss they would suffocate. He pushed them back and let their body glide off the blade into a bloody heap on the floor.

He stepped over the body and wiped the machete clean on his jeans. Robert did his best to remain calm even though the scene in front of him disgusted him to no end. He would never be able to understand how anyone could mutilate another being in such a horrific way. Lucien appeared to be unharmed for now. He was strapped to a gurney and looked terrified beyond belief, but that was probably because he just realized he was a Grimm.

“A Grimm? In Maple Bay?” Hissed one of Lucien’s captors. “There weren’t supposed to be any here.”

Robert shrugged. “I just moved here. Now, all you fucking geier shit heads are making me miss happy hour at Jim and Kim’s. So you’ll understand that I want to make this quick.”

It was at that point the rest of the geier’s panicked. Six escaped out the doors and windows while two chose to stay and fight him. Robert was unsure if it was to buy the others more time or if they thought they were stupid.

One lunged at him trying to swipe at his face, but Robert ducked and slashed open his abdomen spilling guts all over the floor. While he was stunned Robert quickly grabbed them and pushed them into the other Geier. With a grunt, Robert started to hack into them till they stopped moving. Not his most graceful kill, but he was never one to go for style over results.

Panting a little, Robert made his way over to Lucien and started to free him. The teen looked completely horrified. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

He knew things weren’t going to be easy once he started to free Lucien. The teen was freaked out and probably going to lash out at him. He was Grimm after all and had just killed three geier’s right in front of him. As soon as he freed one of Lucien’s legs the teen attempted to kick Robert in the face. Thankfully for Robert, Lucien was still heavily drugged up so his movements were more than a little sluggish and he caught his leg easily.

“Yeah, yeah. I get it,” Robert muttered. “I’m the big bad evil Grimm. You can bitch about it and freak out later. Right now I have to drag your drugged up ass out of here, kill six more geier and make sure your dad and Mary don’t get killed.”

Thankfully for Robert, Lucien seemed to calm down a little at the mention of his dad and he was able to free him without any more protests. Once he was free, Robert watched in mild amusement as Lucien attempted to stand on his own. It quickly became apparent this was not going to happen, so Robert picked him up and carried him outside.

Much to Robert’s surprise just a few feet away near the base of a tree there was a disemboweled geier. He wondered if Mary was responsible for this, but there was no damage to the neck. Mary’s M.O usually consisted of her biting out the throat until the spine was visible. There were no bite marks on this one’s neck.

Suddenly another geier fell from the tree top above, split in half with their entrails falling everywhere, or at least what was left of them. Seconds later Damien jumped down from the same tree landing as gracefully as ever. His purple polo was now saturated in red along with his hands and mouth. Damien attempted to wipe the blood from his lips but it only served to streak it across his cheek instead. Robert had to admit, he could kind of see the appeal of vampires in pop culture now.

When he saw Lucien his rage softened and he rushed over to him, pulling him out of Robert’s arms. He sobbed and cried into his son’s shoulder, and Lucien couldn’t help but do the same. It was a touching moment between father and son, but it couldn’t last.

“Don’t celebrate just yet,” said Robert. “There were nine in there. I killed three, two are dead out here. That makes four left.” A horrified shriek followed by the gnashing of teeth and claws echoed around them. “… Three left.”

Mary walked around the cabin, she was picking meat out from between her teeth. “I think most of them jumped out the window. Do you think we have to get them all or have they gotten the message?”

“We need to get them all.” Said Robert. “Mary and I will circle around the cabin one more time. Damien, get Lucien in the minivan. There’s a first aid kit in there if either of you need it.”

Damien rubbed the tears from his eyes and nodded. “Thank you.” He helped Lucien stand on his own two feet. The two started to make their way back to the minivan.

Once they were out of earshot, Robert quickly turned to Mary. “Holy fuck, he gutted those two!” He gestured to the Geier by the tree. “No offence to him but I thought he would have screamed at them. You know?”

Mary shrugged and started to walk around the cabin, keeping her ears tuned to the trees to check for any disturbances. “Screaming would have alerted the others. Plus it’s most affective with their target isn’t moving you know? They need to pin them down or stop them moving somehow first.”

“Ah, okay.” Robert kept a look out for any geier on the ground.

***

Moving around was helping to work the drugs out of Lucien’s system a lot faster than laying on a gurney. Balancing was difficult and he tried to woge back, but he found he couldn’t. “Dad…” he croaked out. The drugs seemed to have messed up his voice too. “I can’t woge… I’m stuck…”

Damien smiled a little and gently squeezed his arm. “It’s okay. It will wear off in a few hours. All that matters is that you’re safe now.”

“So much blood… I thought you hated it?”

He smiled a little. “Lucien, you are the most precious and important thing to me in the world. A little bit of blood and guts is a small price to pay for your safety… But I can assure you I am going to throw up when we get home.”

Lucien laughed a little. “Okay.” Suddenly his ears picked up something moving in the trees. “Dad!” He quickly pushes Damien out of the way, just in time for a geier to jump out of the trees and hit the ground where they were standing.

The geier growled and struck Damien in the throat with his forearm before kneeing him on the stomach, thoroughly winding him. He shoved Damien onto the ground and delivered a few swift kicks to his stomach. “It was meant to be an easy job.” They growled. “Come to Maple Bay, find some healthy kids, and find a Murciélago for the hexenbitch. Was that so fucking hard?” 

Lucien struggled to keep his footing by leaning against the side of the minivan, “Stay away from my dad.” His voice sounded raspy and weird.

The geier glared at Lucien and walked towards him. “You… You fucking son of a whore! This is all your fault! I’m going to rip your fucking guts out.” He charged towards Lucien when suddenly the minivan door swung open and smashed him in the face, knocking him unconscious.

Ernest looked between Lucien and Damien. “Is everyone okay? Can we go now? That is a lot of blood…”

Lucien was very surprised to say the least. “Ernest? The fuck are you doing here?”

“Smacking bitches in the face with doors, duh.”

Damien coughed a little as he slowly pulled himself to his knees. He was in pain but fine for now. “I’m alright Ernest. Lucien, get in the minivan now.”

Suddenly a second geier leapt out of the trees and into Ernest, knocking him back into the minivan, using him as a springboard to push Damien down once again, but this time, they grabbed hold of his throat and squeezed. 

“Dumb fuckers.” She growled out. “I just wanted to have some fun with that cute boy, but that fucking Grimm… Oh well, at least I can kill your fucking bastard of a father, then we can play, pretty boy.” She was the twisted, sadistic bitch from before. She looked even uglier when woged. The woman had the audacity to giggle while she choked him. “Your eyes are such a pretty red colour. I’m going to pluck them out of your skull and wear them like earing’s.”

“Stay away from my dad!” Using whatever strength he had left, Lucien pushed himself away from the minivan and tackled her to the ground. She thrashed and struggled, but Lucien somehow managed to hold her down. There was no way in hell he was going to let her live after what she just did to his dad. What she was going to do to him.

“Get off me!” She yelled. 

“I thought you wanted to hear me scream?” Lucien snarled. “Get an earful of this.” He got right in her face and shrieked louder than he had ever done so before. He felt his voice cracking several times, but each time his voice got higher and higher till he doubted anyone within a human’s hearing range could hear, and the he kept going. 

The sadistic geier squirmed and cringed, trying desperately to wriggle away, but it was impossible now. Lucien watched as she started to bleed out of her eyes, nose and ears. It wasn’t enough. Even when her eyes finally ruptured in her skull and she stopped moving it wasn’t enough. He kept going till her skull deformed, fractured and her own liquefied brains started gushing out.

He sat back and looked down at his work. He knew he should have been horrified at what he just did. He just murdered someone in cold blood, and he liked it. He liked watching her scream and squirm and beg for him to stop.

He felt Damien’s hand on his shoulder, but couldn’t bear to see the disappointment that would no doubt be obvious on his face. “Lucien…” he wheezed. “Thank you…”

Robert and Mary rushed over to the minivan. “Is everyone alright?!” Asked Robert, speaking a little louder than usual. “One of you screamed and Mary started howling in my ears so now I’m partially deaf in my right ear.”

Lucien slowly got up and climbed into the minivan. He didn’t care too much for whatever conversation the grownups were going to have. He looked over at Ernest who was clutching the side of his head. “You okay?” 

“Vulture bitch kicked me into the door and I have a headache because you started screaming. Am I bleeding?”

He quickly checked his friend’s head. “No bleeding. You’re probably going to end up with a bruise.”

“What about you?” Asked Ernest. “Did they do anything to you?”

“I’m fine, more or less. They didn’t get a chance to touch me. I’m fine.”

“… Then why are you shaking?”

“…” Lucien wasn’t going to answer that. Even he didn’t know why he was shaking so much. Physically the worst that happened to him was that he got drugged. Maybe he was shaking because he had just escaped death? Maybe it was because his dad almost died? Maybe it was because he killed someone? Maybe it was because people actually cared enough to find him and rescue him? He didn’t know.

Suddenly the adults were back in the car and heading back to the main road. Someone would find the cabin eventually. They could call it in. They didn’t have to deal with this. What could they say anyway? Nine organ harvesting wesen were trying to take the vocal cords of another wesen so two adult wesen and a Grimm slaughtered them all in their own rescue attempt? Probably wouldn’t hold up in court.

Lucien felt Damien wrap his arm around him protectively, and he couldn’t pull himself away. He needed this kind of safety and comfort right now. “… Are they all dead?” He whispered.

Damien nodded and kissed the top of Lucien’s head. “Mary and Robert got the last one.”

“And the one Ernest knocked out?”

“Robert snapped his neck. They are all dead.”

Robert chuckled nervously. “Um well… The first geier back at the trailer? I just broke her nose and knocked her out.”

“What?!” Gasped Damien. “They might come back for revenge! Why would you do that?”

Robert hummed a little to himself and lit up another cigarette. “I want her to spread the word in the wesen community. Maple Bay has a Grimm, and he’s not fucking around.”


	11. Post rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things were kind of slow the other day and I couldn't sleep because the air-con died and it got super hot soooooo, have another chapter.
> 
> Also, to the person pointing out that spelling mistake, thanks for the correction. I tend to not check words that don't have a red squiggly line under them. Mistake should be fixed now :D

Robert was very surprised with how well things had turned out with the geier. No one had to go to the hospital. Also, as far as he could tell there was only minor psychological scaring this time. It was pretty messed up, but Robert considered that a win in his books. In fact, he felt damn exhilarated by this.

It had been years since he had been on a hunt like that, and it was fun. There was just an adrenalin rush he couldn’t describe. It was like the world’s most addicting drug. He almost couldn’t believe he drowned himself in alcohol for so long when he should have just been hunting. That was what he wanted, what he needed.

Days after the incident Mary had told him that the Sauver Sa Peau had worn off and Lucien was finally able to woge back to his human self, but Damien had been trying to convince him to see a therapist over what happened. He wasn’t going for it. 

Much to Robert’s surprise things had seemed to calm down a lot after the geier had gone. He half expected Damien to tell the other dads about him or for Lucien or Ernest to spread the word about a Grimm but they didn’t. Perhaps on some level they trusted him enough to keep this a secret from everyone? He had no way of knowing.

Robert sat in the back of his truck, smoking and enjoying the remainder of his afternoon. He quite enjoyed these lulls in activity. 

Mary walked over to him and smiled. “Room for one more sailor?”

He grinned and helped her up onto the truck. “Want to smoke?”

She shook her head. “Nah, don’t want to pick that up again.”

“Fair enough.” He adjusted his sunglasses and took a long drag. “Are the Bloodmarach’s doing any better today?”

Mary shrugged. “It’s getting better. Apparently Lucien’s gotten good at controlling his woge now. Guess that Sauver Sa Peau fixed whatever problems he was having?”

“A blessing in disguise.”

“Yeah…” She sighed a little. “That was pretty fun. Reminded me of the old days.”

“Me too.” He looked over at her and smiled a little. “Do you remember the last time we met up?”

Mary laughed a little. “How could I forget? You paid for our crappy dinner and asked me to run off with you. Can you imagine? A Grimm and a fuchsbau running off together? Like lovers running away to elope. All I could do was blush like a preteen boy seeing his first side boob.”

Robert laughed. He remembered that night well. Mary was wearing denim shorts with her knee high boots and a loose red singlet over some leopard print bra. They had just finished wrapping up an investigation about potential mermaids in the waterways, there were no mermaids, and were celebrating by eating junk food out the back of Robert’s truck.

Things had been fun but Robert needed to move on. He’d been in that collage town for a few months and anything bad that was there was now dead or had fled. It was boring here now, and he had heard that there were some mysterious murders happening up north. Some unlucky souls had been snapped frozen during the middle of the day in broad daylight.

As they shared the last of their greasy fries, Robert had asked Mary to come with him. They could just cut all ties that they had and run away together. He’d be lying if he were to say his feelings for her at the time were completely plutonic at that point, but he doubted she would ever go for a Grimm.

She had politely declined, saying she had other things that were more important to her than traveling the country in a crappy truck. Eating greasy food all the time wasn’t doing her body any good either. Plus she had a boyfriend that she was pretty crazy for at the time. Was he jealous? Damn right he was. But Mary was her own woman with her own life. They parted ways.

Robert laughed a little. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that night for a while. A lot more since we rescued Damien’s kid. You ever regret not coming with me?”

She shrugged. “You ever regret not convincing me to go with you?”

“Fair enough.” He finished off his cigarette, stubbing it out on the side of his truck. “You know, back in the day, I thought you were one of the sexiest things around. I was almost disappointed when you pulled back after I kissed you that one time.”

“What? You don’t think I’m sexy now?” They both shared a laugh at that. “But seriously Robert, I used to think you were pretty hot too. Too bad I was seeing someone. If you had gotten there a few months earlier things might have been different.”

“Yeah. We’d still be on the road,” said Robert. “Hell, we might have even had a kid of our own by now.”

Mary laughed at that notion. “Getting a bit ahead of yourself aren’t you? Nah, if we left that night we’d be traveling through Europe by now. Breakfast in Paris, lunch in Germany, and dinner in Switzerland.”

“Do I look like I’m made of money?” Asked Robert. “My Grimm fortune was built on taking odd jobs in the wesen community. I’m lucky I’m not broke right now.”

“Yeah. You thinking of letting the wesen of Maple Bay pay you to go around and do your Grimm thing?”

Robert shrugged. “I’m not desperate for money at the moment. Also, fighting a bunch of wesen in one go is murder on my joints.”

“Damn you really are getting old,” muttered Mary. “… Think you’ll tell the other dads that you’re a Grimm now that three more people know who you are? Might only be a matter of time you know.”

He nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you’re right… How do you think I should do it? One on one or in a group?”

“If you do it in a group we can do it at my place,” suggested Mary. “I can get Joseph to swallow some frog that’ll make him give off some calming pheromones so everyone’s less likely to attack you.”

Despite Robert’s distrust of Joseph and his mind altering pheromones, he had to admit the ziegevolk had a few uses. “Fine. Might be better to do it that way then say, accidentally running into Craig when he’s woged on a night run or something… He might try and take my head off…”

Mary nodded in agreement. “Yeah. I’ll go and talk to Joseph about this. He’ll probably get a kick out of this.” She got off the truck and happily walked back to her house.

Robert smiled a little and watched her go. It was fun to think about what could have been, but life was made up of choices, and they had made theirs long ago. He sighed and lied down, stretching out his back a little. He always had more fun when hunting with other people anyway.

Suddenly Lucien peered over the side of his truck and looked down at him. “Hey, you awake?”

“Yep. What do you need?” Now this was different. 

“… Just wanted to say thanks… about what you did for me the other day,” he muttered. “Mary said if you didn’t mention it no one would have known that… And I would have… I didn’t expect a Grimm to do something like that for a wesen…”

He shrugged. “Hey, you needed help. Not like I’m going to let a kid get hurt if I can help it.”

“Huh, so Grimm’s have morals?”

Robert grunted as he sat up. “Lucien, Grimms aren’t the blood thirsty monsters you’ve been taught we are. Back in the day there were small sects of torture happy Grimms that loved nothing more than torturing wesen till they dropped dead, but there aren’t any Grimms like that anymore. No one in the cul-de-sac has any need to fear me.”

“So why haven’t you told anyone you’re a Grimm?” He asked.

Robert couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Lucien, when I tried to tell your dad I was Grimm so I could get his help finding you he tried to claw my face off because he thought I killed you. I had to hit him with a frying pan to get him off me.”

“He didn’t scream at you?”

“Guess he didn’t care for getting overly bloody at the time.” He smiled a little at Lucien. “Your dad cares about you a lot. Hell, he murdered two geier’s with his bare hands to get you back. Doesn’t he like, hate raw meat and blood?”

“Yeah, he kind of vomited for like half an hour when we got home…” He glanced over his shoulder back at his house. “Hey um… my dad is kind of weird and stuff, but I’m glad you were nice to him even though you are who you are and he is what he is… Keep being nice to him, okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“He tried to kill you.”

Robert laughed at that. “Yeah, but almost every wesen I meet tries to murder me first time. I’m not one to hold grudges over something as trivial as attempted murder. That’s dumb.”

“… So you’ve almost died too?”

“More times than I can count.” He started to count off some more memorable times on his fingers. “A dragon lady once almost set me on fire, gator bastard almost ate me, a troll bastard almost put his foot through my chest, can’t count the number of times a hexenbiest has tried to off me, almost got drowned by a mermaid once, a spider lady almost ate me once, and Krumpus once got me into a burlap sack and beat the shit out of me before he tried to eat me.”

Lucien didn’t look impressed. “Really? Krumpus? He’s not real.”

“He is so real, and so is Santa.”

“Yeah, right.”

Robert rolled his eyes. “Look, Krumpus and Santa are unique wesens. The have a Jekyll and Hyde relationship. They can only woge during December for a set number of days and have no memory of it after. I have theorised it’s because of the lunar cycle combined with the angle that the earth is rotated.”

“Sure it is…”

“… Kid you are a giant bat whose screams can make heads explode. Your friend is a bull. Mary is a fox. What’s so crazy about Krumpus?”

“A lot.”

Robert shrugged. “Whatever you say kid. Just because you don’t believe in them doesn’t make them any less true.”

“Whatever… So you’re good at fighting, right?”

“I can beat the crap out of most things.”

“Teach me.”

Robert was more than a little confused. “Kid, your screams can make people’s eyes explode. Pretty sure you’re good.”

“If I was good at fighting then I wouldn’t have gotten taken.” Hints of resentment and guilt laced his words. “I’m never going to be that vulnerable like that again.”

Robert groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. He was not good at giving these kinds of talks to people. “You are always going to vulnerable. Everyone is always vulnerable no matter what. You could be the best at hand to hand combat in the world, but that doesn’t mean shit if your opponent lobs a grenade at you.” 

“… I guess, but I still want to learn how to fight. I can’t rely on screaming at people all the time and I don’t want to slash at people with my claws or bite their necks. Not a huge fan of blood… I just don’t want my dad to worry about me anymore.”

Robert would point out that parents always worry about their children, but that wasn’t what Lucien needed to hear right now. “Sure. I’ll show you some basics. Like how to get out of an arm lock, but later. I’m doing Grimm stuff now.”

“Actual Grimm stuff or smoke and drink?”

“It’s called a stakeout, and yes, smoking and drinking is a big part of it.” Not really, but Robert would be damned if it wasn’t handy to have fire and alcohol on his person if things got bad during a stakeout.

“Whatever… See you around…” 

Robert watched Lucien walk back to his house. He wondered if those two really were okay. He hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to Damien since that night. He was concerned about him, and kind of hoped he wasn’t avoiding him because he was a Grimm. If that was the case he was going to have to get used to being the local pariah when everyone else found out. 

Back in Boston he didn’t necessarily advertise that he was a Grimm, but word did spread fast among certain wesen circles. The meeker ones would spread the word as quickly as possible to their family and friends as to avoid any potential confrontations. Even the more dangerous ones were smart enough to just avoid him if they could help it.

Where he had been living didn’t have a huge abundance of wesen, but it did make him feel like a bit of an outsider. He couldn’t hold a conversation with normal people to save his life, and wesen didn’t like Grimms. The only times he’d had proper conversations with a wesen was haggling how much he wanted for whatever job they wanted him to do.

Most of his jobs in Boston consisted of stalking and extortion. Nine times out of ten it ended with him lopping off someone’s head and trying to figure out how to hide the body. It wasn’t easy, but he did his best.

At least Mary liked him. 

He took out another cigarette and lit it up. He’d have to get another pack soon. Tonight he’d grab one at a gas station on his way up to his thinking spot. He’d take Betsy with him. Let her sniff around and pee on all the things. It would give Robert time to think about how he should handle letting everyone know he was a Grimm but he wasn’t going to murder them.


	12. Coming out party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eisbiber; (Ice-bee-bur) A beaver-like wesen. They have a natural talent when it comes to building things and will often find work in construction or as repairmen. They often ramble when startled or flustered about a variety of topics. They are very community based and will often seek out the opinion of others when making a decision that will affect the whole community.

It took about a week for things to get ready for Robert’s big revel. Most of it had to do with trying to find a time when all the dads were free and their children would be away. When they did find a good time for everyone, Robert was forced to go over to Mary’s house early in the morning. This wasn’t so bad, apart from the fact that meant Robert had to be around Joseph. He trusted Joseph about as much as he trusted an open flame in a firework’s factory.

Robert resented the fact Mary was doing the school drop off today and neglected to tell him, leaving him alone with the other man. He did his best to stay as far away from the other man as possible. He wanted to make it clear to Joseph that he resented him and was only getting his help because Mary asked for it.

Either Joseph didn’t notice his hostility, or he just didn’t care. He just happily waltzed around his kitchen getting food and drinks ready. He looked over at Robert and smiled at him. “Would you like some coffee?”

“I’m good.”

“You sure? You and Mary didn’t come back until rather late last night. This will perk you right up.”

There was something fake about Joseph’s smile that made Robert cringe. “I’m guessing you’re not the kind of guy that takes no for an answer.”

“… Okay, not that was uncalled for. I’m a wesen, not a monster.” Joseph sat on the couch furthest away from Robert. “Besides, I have never slept with anyone who hadn’t suggested it first.”

“What are you saying?” Snapped Robert. “That I started it? That I came onto you?”

Joseph shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t remember too much about our first meeting. We were both pretty drunk and no good decisions have ever been made while drunk.”

“… Why were you even in Boston anyway?”

“My father had recently passed away and dividing up his estate was mighty difficult.” Joseph’s gaze became unfocused, like he was lost in memory. “He had assets tied up in things and things tied up in assets. His wasn’t a very straight forward man. Always playing mind games with people.”

“Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it?”

Joseph sighed a little. “Robert please. I know Ziegevolk don’t scream trustworthy or innocent people. We have a history of one night stands and such, but we are decent enough people. Far more decent than many other wesen you’ve met.”

Robert looked at him like he was an idiot and showed him his tattoo. “Oh wow, such a decent wesen. You put a fucking cursed tattoo on me. Go fuck yourself.”

“Like I said it was for my own protection,” clarified Joseph. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to kill me once your head was clear. It was an in a heat of the moment decision. It’s not like I’m going to use it against you now. That would just be rude.”

“… You were married when all this happened,” muttered Robert. “There are many things I will let go because wesen are wesen, but cheating on your wife? Fuck that. Fuck you Joseph. I’m not going to act like things between us are okay because they’re not. They never will be.”

“Well I hope you can look past that someday.”

“… If you’re trying any of your pheromone shit right now I am going to throw something at you.”

Joseph rolled his eyes. “My pheromones won’t affect you unless you’re sitting right next to me and we have some skin contact, unless I swallow a toad. In that case it doesn’t really matter… Besides isn’t it a little hypocritical to get all upset about me using my pheromones considering you need me to use them to stop the neighbours from ripping out your throat?”

“Damien already knows I’m a Grimm.” Robert was pleased to see that Joseph seemed surprised by this. “Have there been rumours going around about some geier’s that got slaughtered up in the woods the other week? That was me. Damien helped me out with that one. I would have done it myself, but I thought he’d like to be involved since his kid was snatched up by them.”

Before Joseph could say anything, Mary came through the door, dusting off her hands. “Okay, kids are dropped off. Joseph, you should probably go and catch a frog out the back if you want to help out.”

“… Yes dear.” He walked off into the backyard to catch a frog.

Mary sighed a little and sat next to Robert. “He didn’t try anything, did he?”

“No, but I still don’t like him. You need to leave him Mary.”

“I already told you, I’m waiting till the kids woge.”

“Really? No other reason you can’t pull away from him?”

“… Yes.”

Robert didn’t believe her for a second, but decided against pushing it for now. He could pry into Mary and Joseph’s personal life later. For now he had to worry about surviving the next hour. He jumped a little when he heard the doorbell ring. No turning back now.

***

Robert did his best not to appear nervous as all the dads gathered inside Joseph’s house. He was already calculating the quickest way back to his house without causing too much property damage. He was pretty sure he could outrun and or out maneuver most of them. His main concern was Craig. Even when he wasn’t woged the man was fast and ridiculously strong. Robert was sure Mary wouldn’t mind if he smashed a clock into Craig’s face if he had to.

He was pulled out of his daze by some polite coughing from Damien. “Excuse me Robert… I um… I wished to speak to you about the other night…”

“You are thankful for what I did but never want to speak to me again or see me, and if I’m on your property you won’t hesitate to end me?” He swirled his drink around in his hand and took a sip. As far as he was concerned it was never too early for whisky, but Mary insisted he stay sober for this. “I’ve heard it all before Damien. I intend to stay away.”

Damien seemed shocked to hear this. “What? No, Robert. Quite the opposite. I’m very thankful for what you did. If it wasn’t for you then Lucien would be… I’ve just been very conflicted with my own emotions. You’re a good man, but you’re… you know…”

“And you’re conflicted because you were brought up hearing my kind are monsters, but meeting me has made you question what you know?”

“… Well, yes.” Damien looked rather ashamed of himself, unable to Robert in the eyes as he spoke. “I just… You don’t help us. You kill us. The monster to the monsters… Too human to be wesen, and too wesen to be human.”

“Too different to completely belong to either world. An outcast and outsider to both. It’s almost tragic really.”

“Robert…”

Out of the corner of his eye, Robert could see Hugo approaching so he quickly snapped his jaw shut. “It’s good to see you again Robert, and you too Damien. You haven’t been out of your house much since the um, family incident. Is Lucien doing alright?”

Damien smiled a little. “Thank you for your concern. Lucien is doing much better after his allergy attack.”

Robert was amused by this. He wasn’t sure if everyone knew about the geier abducting Lucien or if Damien had concocted some wesen related sickness and passed it off as an allergy to explain their absence over the past few days. “Must be one powerful allergy.”

“Yes,” said Damien. “Lucien is highly allergic to dogs. It was unfortunate but my clothing had copious amounts of dog hair on it after I assisted Mary at the animal shelter. It was buried at the bottom of the washing basket and Lucien unfortunately handled it while doing his chores. He is doing much better now.”

Hugo smiled sympathetically. “It’ll be good to see him around the school again.” 

“Thank you.”

“So what were you two talking about before I came over?” He seemed genuinely curious and Robert couldn’t blame him. He and Damien didn’t look like they would have anything in common, especially with the way Damien usually dressed. All fancy and stuff.

Damien was caught off guard by Hugo’s question and started to panic a little. “Um, well you see… we um…” It was apparent Damien could lie when he rehearsed it, but not on the spot.

With a smile on his face, Robert happily stepped in and did what he did best. Bullshit. “Well you see, last night I ended up watching the 1994 Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and we were discussing the similarities and differences between the novella and film. I did enjoy much of the visual aspects that came with the birth of the monster. I found Kenneth Branagh’s performance as Victor Frankenstein very emotional.” 

Hugo seemed surprised by this. “Have you read the book yourself?”

Robert smirked a little. “What? Just because I dress like I just rolled out of truck stop doesn’t mean I don’t know how to read.”

“I didn’t mean to imply that,” said Hugo calmly. “I think it’s really good that you read the classics. Mary Shelly did pioneer the science fiction genre after all.”

Robert snorted a little. “Yeah, and people say science fiction belongs to men.” That got a small chuckle out Hugo and Damien. “Personally though the only science fiction I like is the kind where stupid people mess with things they shouldn’t and have to reap the consequences. Same with horror.”

Hugo smiled. “Well, doesn’t that mean you enjoy all horror?”

“Not necessarily,” said Robert. “Depending on the horror genre and how the characters are framed makes a big difference. Most of the time I find myself sympathising with the monsters a lot more than I do the protagonists. And I am pretty sure that’s just down to bad writing.”

“Very true,” agreed Hugo.

Mary walked over and whispered to Robert. “Everyone seems pretty relaxed now. You might want to do the thing before Joseph’s pheromones start to wear off and he has to swallow another frog.”

Robert didn’t want to admit it, but she was right. “Hey, everyone!” He called out in a booming voice. “I got something to say to you all!” Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him. 

He had some elaborate speech in his head that he had been working on since Mary first mentioned him coming out. But he decided against it right then and there. He was Robert Small for crying out loud. He was straight to the point when the time called for it. That time was certainly now.

“Fuchsbau, Ziegevolk, Blutbad, Reinigen, Taureus-Armenta, Murciélago, and I still have no idea what the hell you are Brian. Also, I’m a Grimm.” He took off his sunglasses and waited for all hell to break loose.

He didn’t have to wait long before everyone around him woged and looked right at him, each one going through a range of emotions, apart from Mary and Joseph. They seemed indifferent. Damien looked shocked that Robert just came out and said it. Hugo went rigid, but quickly balled his hand into a fist, ready to punch him if he had to. Craig bent his knees, looking like he was about leap at him from across the room. Mat, to his credit stood his ground, but looked like he was about to run to the nearest exit. Brian looked absolutely shocked at this revelation.

Robert quickly looked Brian over; short brownish hair covered his body, his nose was flat and leathery, and he had two protruding buck teeth sticking out from his lips. He looked like some kind of beaver.

Suddenly it clicked in Robert’s head. “An Eisbiber… A goddamn… Of course he’s a fucking Eisbiber… How the hell did I not see that he was-?” Robert’s sentence was quickly cut off when Hugo put him in a choke hold while everyone else started to freak out about Robert being a Grimm. Granted Mary and Joseph were trying to calm down Brian, Mat, and Craig.

“Bro! He’s a Grimm! We have to get rid of him!” Yelled Craig.

“He’s not a threat.” Said Joseph. 

“Joseph, we have to think about our kids!” Cried Mat. “I can’t sleep knowing Carmensita’s life is in danger!”

“I understand what you’re saying but he’s not like that.” Said Joseph calmly.

“We have to take him out now while Hugo’s got him.” Said Brian. “We can’t take too many chances. I say we put it to a vote.”

Mary sighed. “No one is voting for anything. We aren’t going to kill Robert.”

While they were trying to calm those three down, Damien was trying to convince Hugo to let Robert go. For that Robert was grateful, but he wasn’t too convinced of Damien’s persuasion skills. If he couldn’t even make up a lie on the fly before what chance did he have of helping him now?

“Please Hugo, you need to let Robert go.”

Hugo shook his head and tightened his hold. “Can’t do that Damien. He’s a Grimm… Did you hear what he did to those Geier’s that were setting up shop in Maple Bay? He slaughtered them. Now I don’t agree with what they do, but they were all slaughtered! Nine of them! Do you think our kids are going to be safe around him?”

“He wouldn’t hurt a child!”

“How would you know?!”

Robert attempted to wiggle out of Hugo’s grip while Damien was distracting him. It wasn’t working. He tried to grab Hugo by the horns and pull him off. That wasn’t working either. If Robert survived this he would need to get into better shape. Also, if he survived he would need to see his chiropractor because Hugo was fucking with his neck real bad.

“Because he saved Lucien’s life!” Snapped Damien. “Those Geier? They abducted Lucien and if Robert hadn’t risked his life by telling me what he was my son would be dead!”

Hugo hesitated for a moment, but he reluctantly let him go anyway.

Robert fell to the ground and gasped for air. “That really fucking hurt… Thanks for the help Damien.” If this was how they reacted now, Robert could only imagine how bad things would be if Joseph wasn’t using his pheromones on everyone. Eventually everyone calmed down enough to the point where they could have a civilized conversation.

Joseph smiled happily and clapped his hands. “Well now that we have all calmed down, I think I can safely say this turned out rather well.”

“Yeah, I’m going to leave now,” muttered Robert.

“Wait, I have a question,” said Hugo. “Robert, so you aren’t an Endezeichen Grimm?”

Robert hadn’t heard that word before, but like most Grimm related things it sounded German. “… I don’t know what that is, but I feel like I should be offended.”

“They were a sect of inhumanely brutal Grimms,” informed Hugo. “They tortured all wesen they captured, often cutting off fingers, toes, arms, legs, and genitals as trophies. During the middle ages they would dress in black cloaks and wear masks as they went from town to town indiscriminately murdering wesen and marking places with their stylised G symbol. They are the reason most wesen to this day fear all Grimms… Unfortunately we are no acceptation.”

At least now Robert knew why wesen either tried to kill him or run for the hills when they saw him. “Yeah, I’m not one of those.”

“Bro, then what are you?” Asked Craig. He still looked like he would leap at Robert at any second, but he seemed a little calmer now. “Why did you come to Maple Bay, to here or all places?”

Robert shrugged. “I threw a dart at a map and chose a place I could afford. I didn’t expect to land in the middle of wesen country… I guess you could say I was trying to retire from being a Grimm, but I can’t exactly turn off my Grimm abilities.”

“What Grimm things did you do back in Boston?” Asked Brian. “Heck, what does a Grimm that doesn’t kill wesen do?”

“It was pretty much a mercenary,” Robert admitted. “Worked a bunch of odd jobs for different wesen. Most of it consisted of tracking down stalkers and bastard trying to extort small businesses. That kind of stuff. I don’t kill unless I have to.”

Suddenly Craig’s eyes lit up. “Bro! So you’re the Grimm that took down all those geier, right? Dude, you took down nine all by yourself?”

“Ah, actually I killed four,” said Robert. “Mary got two, Damien got two, and Lucien got one.”

Joseph looked absolutely shocked. “MARY?!”

Mary shrugged. “Relax Joseph. It was all in the name of rescuing Lucien from the bastards that wanted to slit his throat and harvest his body parts.”

The room fell quiet and Robert explained. “I have a contact in Boston and she let me know about some murders that have happened in the area where internal organs were missing. She did some researching and determined that geier’s were coming to Maple Bay to look for Murciélago vocal cords. So I went and did my Grimm thing and took care of it.”

“Wait a second,-” said Hugo. “-who else knew you were a Grimm before all this?”

Robert sighed a little and counted everyone off on his fingers. “Let’s see… Mary, Joseph, Damien, Lucien, and Ernest. Though the Ernest thing was kind of Damien’s fault since Ernest kind of walked in on Damien trying to kill me at the time.”

Damien blushed a little and looked away from any accusatory gazes. “In my defence you made it sound like you had murdered my son.”

Robert shrugged a little. “Look, I’m just going to go home now. You all can just start ignoring me and pretending I don’t exist. Tell your kids to avoid the big bad Grimm. It’ll be just like when I was drinking myself to death in Boston.”

He quickly left Joseph’s house and went back to his own, locking the door behind him. He’d gone and done it. He had told everyone what he was and what was their first instinct? Kill him. He expected it to happen, but it still annoyed and frustrated him to no end. He picked up one of many half empty whisky bottles strewn around his home and started watching TV.

***

Robert had polished off at least three bottles of whisky and four war documentaries when someone knocked at the door. He groaned a little a he forced himself to answer it. Robert expected to see Mary, heck he would have even expected Damien or Joseph, but not Mat.

He kept nervously adjusting his glasses and not making direct eye contact with him. “H-hey Robert… I um… I was wondering if um…”

Robert felt like he knew what was coming and cut him off. “I’ll stop going to The Coffee Spoon. Your place can be a safe, Grimm free zone again.”

“Huh? No, I don’t want you to stop coming over,” said Mat quickly. “There’s actually a problem that I have that I think requires your expertise, if you know what I mean.”

This had Robert intrigued, but sceptical. “Weren’t you pro Grimm killing back there?”

“I um… Well not killing per say just…”

Robert shrugged and stepped aside. “Come in Mat. I got no reason to hate you. I’d probably be the same if I were in your shoes.”

Mat was hesitant, but stepped inside Robert’s home. “O-okay.”

It was very obvious to Robert that Mat wasn’t taking this too well. From the short times he had seen Mat he seemed laid back but was very anxious in certain situations. Robert moved some empty bottles off the table and offered Mat a drink, which he declined. Robert shrugged, sat at the table and started on his next half-finished bottle of whisky.

“So, what services do you require of me?”

Mat nervously played with his hands, but to his credit he didn’t woge. “Well you see… I um… I’m really involved with the music scene in Maple Bay and things are just… It’s getting weird.”

“How so?” It had been a while since he had gotten really involved with any music scene himself. In fact the most he got involved with music was picking out what CD to play in his truck on long drives.

“There’s been an unusual amount of fighting in bands and between bands… and it just… Things are really escalating to the point I think someone might end up killing someone else.”

“… And you think a wesen’s behind this?”

“I don’t know, but I’d really appreciate it if you could have a look for me. Most wesen that hang out at the local music scenes are nice enough. Even the more aggressive wesen don’t look for fights and just go to enjoy the music… So I just… I’m at a loss…”

Robert thought this through for a moment. Mat seemed like a nice enough guy, and considering how anxious and nervous he was, he still went to Robert for help. It made Robert feel a little less shit about himself. But there was no way he was doing this for free.

“I want free unlimited coffee for a month if this isn’t wesen related.”

“Done.”

“Free unlimited coffee and banana bread for the rest of the year if it is wesen related.”

“Seriously?”

“My services aren’t cheap Mat.”

Mat sighed a little. “Sure. Fine… If it is wesen related I’ll even bake you a whole loaf of banana bread once the problem is solved.”

Robert grinned. “Deal.”

“Thanks. I’ll give you the details next time you come by The Coffee Spoon. I really appreciate this.”

Robert nodded and gestured to the front door. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t let the door hit you where the good lord split you on the way out.”

Mat blushed but quickly left Robert’s home, leaving him once again, alone.

Robert sighed a little and drank some more whisky. Today he exposed himself as a Grimm, almost got murdered for being a Grimm, and technically got hired for a job for being a Grimm. But most important of all, he finally figured out Brian was a goddamn Eisbiber.


	13. Young people music is weird

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate editing so much. I feel like a moron. Every time I think I got the right thing put in I completely botch the rest of it. It makes me wanna scream so much... Anyway, here's Wonderwall.

True to Mat’s word he gave Robert some instructions the next time he went to The Coffee Spoon. He had given him a hand written note with his coffee about when and where he needed to be. Looked like it was some outdoor music festival thing. It wasn’t something he would normally go to, but it was free and tonight.

He took his usual seat at the back corner and slowly drank his coffee. It seemed like things were going to go back to how they were back in Boston. Avoided at all costs unless people wanted him for something. Robert drank his coffee in relative silence. It was just as bitter as he felt. No one liked Grimms. The only wesen that really liked him was Mary. Everyone else just tolerated him.

While he was wallowing in his own self-loathing he hardly noticed Joseph sitting across from him with his own coffee. “Are you doing okay?” He asked.

“I am ten seconds away from throwing my coffee in your face and leaving,” muttered Robert. “Say what you came over here to say and get out.”

Joseph sighed a little and took a sip of his own drink. “Look, you’re miserable right now. You outed yourself to a group of people that both hate and fear you. People that only like you when it’s convenient and say otherwise when they are done with you. You don’t feel welcome anymore.”

“I’m not welcome no matter where I go Joseph. It’s nothing new.”

“Then why did you tell everyone?”

“No point hiding who I really am. Everyone was bound to find out sooner or later.” 

Joseph reached over to Robert, but stopped just short of touching his hand. “You did a brave thing doing that… And I’m glad you trusted me enough to help you with your coming out, so to speak.”

“It wasn’t really a matter of trust…”

“Well there was some amount of trust from you or it wouldn’t have happened,” said Joseph. He smiled a little at Robert, trying to look friendly, but there was just something that was putting Robert off. He thought ziegevolk were more prey end of the wesen spectrum, but the eyes Joseph was looking at him with, they looked down right predatory. “And for that I have to thank you.”

“… Yeah, don’t do that.” Robert drank some more of his coffee.

“Why not? Don’t you think I could possibly be of use to you if you’re going to peruse any of your Grimm activities in Maple Bay?”

“Yeah, that’s not how I roll Joseph. I’m not a fan of people that manipulate and fuck with people’s minds for their own personal gain.”

“Now Robert, you can’t honestly say you haven’t done that yourself.”

“True, but I’ve never had to use pheromones, chemicals, or drugs to do it.”

Joseph shrugged. “I can’t help it. It’s in my nature. Asking me to not use my god given gifts is practically impossible. It’s all linked in with my own body releasing chemicals and hormones into my blood. For example, right at this moment I know that you are a Grimm and my body is naturally producing pheromones in line with my fight or flight response.” 

He gently brushed a finger over the back of Robert’s hand. In an instant Robert’s hand felt warm and lustful thought intruded on his mind. He quickly pulled his hand away from Joseph and glared at him. “Go and die.”

“I was trying to demonstrate that I can’t help it. Being in the presence of a Grimm makes my pheromones work over time.” He smiled Robert, looking far more happy than he should. “I know you’re a dangerous man and I can’t help it. It’s just my defence mechanism.”

“I don’t care,” muttered Robert. “Fuck off and die.”

“I think you should be a little nicer to me. We’re neighbours now. We should get along to some degree. Apart from Mary, who else do you have in Maple Bay?”

“…”

“I thought as much.” Joseph hummed a little and drank some more coffee. “What happened, happened. There’s no way to turn back time and change it. But I think you would find me a better ally than an enemy.”

“Well you’re acting like a creeper.” Robert quickly finished off his coffee and headed back home. He was going to have to deal with Joseph later. Since he assumed Mary might have a small problem with him straight up murdering her husband, he wondered if she would be mad if her tasered him? Better yet, use bear mace on him. 

He slumped on his couch and gave Betsy a few good pats while contemplating this thought. Even daring his mind to wonder if he should use a taser and bear mace on him. It made him wonder if that might accidentally set Joseph on fire. He wasn’t sure if bear mace was flammable.

Robert sighed and looked down at Betsy. “Looks like it’s just going to be you and me for a while Betsy… Everyone hates me again…”

“Boof?” The little dog looked up at Robert with such big wide eyes.

He smiled a little and scratched behind her ear. “Same old thing Betsy. I’m a Grimm, they are wesen. Wesen with kids… No one likes Grimms.”

“Arf!”

“Well I know you like me. I feed you.”

The small dog whines and rested her had on Robert’s lap. “Boof…”

“… I love you too Betsy. Fuck, is it pathetic or weird that you’re the only thing I can consistently have conversations with?”

“Boof!”

“It has to be one or the other Betsy. Pathetic or weird. Take your pick.”

Suddenly Betsy’s ears perked up and she ran to the front door. She started barking and running around like crazy. Robert hadn’t seen her this animated in a while. There must have been someone interesting there.

As he approached he noticed a letter had been slipped under the door. It looked aged and had a wax seal on it. Robert had a pretty good idea about who sent it to him. He sighed a little and opened the letter.

_Dear Robert,_  
_I hope that you are in good health and are doing well since you exposed yourself in front of the rest the cul-de-sac. I must say I was deeply alarmed and troubled that you would do such a thing and put yourself in much unneeded danger. However this can be seen as much of a blessing as it is a curse. Now that everyone knows I suspect that things might calm down._

_However I do still wish to speak to you in regards to what we discussed prior to your sudden coming out. I believe I was frightfully inconsiderate to your own feelings due to my own prejudice towards Grimms. I took the liberty of educating myself more on the subject of Grimms beyond the Albtraume fur Wesen Kinder, nightmares for wesen children, our equivalent of fairy tales. I do not believe that you are dangerous._

_I am still sorry with the way I acted when you first told me your secret. I should not have attacked you. It was completely unprovoked and reprehensible of me to do so. Mere words cannot and shall not ever express how deeply sorry I am for any distress I have caused you._

_If I am not being too bold I would like to request your company tonight at Jim and Kim’s and 8’o clock sharp. I eagerly await your reply._

_With great respect,_  
_D. Bloodmarch_

Robert was more than a little surprised to receive this kind of letter from anyone, let alone Damien. He half expected there to be some cursed writing or hex in it. There was still a chance that the letter was cursed and he should probably burn it. He sighed a little and walked to Damien’s house. His car was still in the driveway, so he had to still be inside. Robert knocked on the door and waited for Damien to answer.

He didn’t have to wait too long before Damien opened the door. “Ah, Robert. I see you got my letter.”

“Yeah, my dog kind of let me know you were at the door.” Robert sighed a little. “Yeah, I have Grimm things to do tonight so I’m not going drinking.”

“Oh…” Damien looked disappointed, but then quickly perked up. “Then perhaps I could be of some assistance? Do you know what wesen you are looking for?”

“I’m just looking around. I don’t even know if this actually is wesen related right now.”

“Then allow me to let you use my library. I have many books concerning wesen that you might find valuable. I mean, I don’t know how you investigate wesen, but it can’t hurt, right?” Despite Damien’s enthusiasm and eagerness, Robert couldn’t help but feel like there was something else behind his words. It could have been just his paranoia after dealing with Joseph. Robert didn’t want to take the risk.

“Look Damien, you don’t have to do this. I get it, you’re grateful I helped save your kid and you’re feeling guilty too. You don’t have to do this. You already paid me back by having my back when we went to get Lucien, and convincing Hugo to let me out of that headlock.”

At his words Damien seemed to look more and more disappointed and distressed. “But I want to help you… If you didn’t reveal yourself to me you wouldn’t have had to expose yourself to everyone else. I feel partially responsible in your self-imposed isolation. Please come to Jim and Kim’s tonight Robert. I implore you.”

“I already told you I have Grimm business to take care of tonight,” said Robert. “Some other day we’ll go drinking. Okay?”

“… Okay. Goodbye Robert.”

Robert nodded a little and headed back to his house. He felt a little bad that he turned Damien down, but he had more important things to do. He could get drunk anytime, and this thing was tonight. Plus he was pretty sure he could get alcohol at this place or smuggle his own in.

***

It was surprisingly easy for Robert to find a parking spot close to the park. He only had to park one street away. The small indie music festival was already underway with some band playing on the main stage while venders tried to sell their merch to moderate success.

Needless to say Robert felt more than a little out of touch with the youths and their techno and electronic music and sound boards. He could practically feel himself ageing. It was agonizing really, to be confronted with how old you really were becoming.

Before he could completely wither into a husk and die, Mat happened to spot him and walked over to him. He was smiling nervously at him. “Hey, glad you could make it. I um, I really appreciate it.”

“No problem. I’m getting free coffee out of this,” said Robert calmly. “So um, what’s the problem?”

Mat sighed a little and gestured for Robert to follow him, which he reluctantly did. “Well… truth be told I don’t know the whole story, but the lead guitarist of Ultrawave and the bassist from Residue are having a fight over something. I know someone who’s been keeping tabs on it. He’s parked over the other side of the park. He’s wesen too.”

Robert nodded and followed Mat past through the other festival goers. Every now and then one would stop Mat for a spontaneous high five, fist bump, or hug. On these occasions Robert would have a quick look around to see if he could see anything strange. He could see a few wesen teens dancing and rocking out to the music closer to the stage, but the strangest thing was seeing some teens painting each other’s arms and faces in fluoro paint. Humans were weird.

Eventually they made it to the other side of the park where Mat walked over to some green haired youth in a crop top and camouflage pants. Wasn’t he the other guy that sometimes worked at The Coffee Spoon?

As soon as he saw Mat he grinned and waved at him. “Hey Mat! Told you I’d be here. This gonna take long? Megaphonix is gonna play soon and I don’t want to miss it.”

“Not selling your shirts tonight?” Asked Mat.

“Nah, tonight I party.” He looked over at Robert and quickly looked him over with a scrutinizing stare. “So… is he the help you were talking about?”

Mat nodded. “Yep. Pablo, this is Robert. Robert, Pablo.”

Pablo grinned. “Cool. I’ve seen you around The Coffee Spoon. So what are you? Are you like a Wildsheer? Quijaga Vil? Please tell me you’re a Pflichttreue. That would be so sweet.”

Now Robert was confused. He looked over at Mat. “You didn’t tell him?”

Mat laughed nervously and looked away. “Hey, I don’t like spreading rumours around… and I was pretty sure Pablo wouldn’t believe me unless he saw it for himself.”

Robert sighed a little. “Alright. Guess we woge at the same time?” The ability to woge wasn’t something a Grimm could do but he couldn’t really do anything other than use familiar terminology to set Pablo at ease before everything went to hell.

Pablo chuckled a little and happily woged in front of Robert, as it turns out Pablo was a Reinigen like Mat, and the second he looked Robert in the eyes while in his wesen form, he freaked. His smile was replaced with pure horror as he jumped back into the side of his van.

“Nope! Not doing this! I’m out of here!”

Mat quickly grabbed his arm and tried to calm him. “Calm down Pablo. Robert’s cool. I asked him to help out because we both think it’s probably a wesen that’s caused all this mess with Ultrawave and Residue.”

Robert nodded in agreement. “I’m just going to poke around and see if this is wesen related or not, and no offence kid but Reinigen aren’t even a super huge threat to me or people in general. You guys are kind of at the bottom of the wesen food chain anyway.”

“Ouch, rude.” Now Pablo looked just as hurt as he was afraid. “… Okay, if Mat says you’re cool I guess you’re cool… But I’m not talking to you unless we’re in a public place or Mat is with me.”

Robert shrugged. “No objection here.”

“… And you need to buy a shirt.”

“You told Mat you weren’t selling tonight.”

“Consider it an informant fee.”

Robert rolled his eyes but still paid for one of Pablo’s band shirts anyway. “So tell me about what’s going on.”

Pablo gave one last nervous look at Mat before he reluctantly told Robert what he knew. “Okay, so Ultrawave and Residue are pretty different music wise. Ultrawave is kind of more dance, feel good kind of music. Residue is way more bass heavy with strong Finnish metal influences. Point being they shouldn’t even be in the same music circles. Their styles don’t gel. But the lead guitarist and bassist are at each other’s throats.”

“Yeah, Mat’s told me that much,” muttered Robert. He took out a cigarette and started to smoke. “You’re going to have to do better than that Pablo.”

“Hey, I got more for you… So word it this whole thing started a little bit after Ultrawave got really popular. Like, they got crazy good overnight. Top five most downloaded albums on iTtunes big… But then the guitarist started fighting with Residue’s base player… It’s real crazy man… And Residue’s starting to get pretty well known now too.”

Robert sighed a little. “You two realise that getting popular and fighting doesn’t mean there’s anything wesen related going on, right?”

“I know,” said Pablo. “But they are apparently fighting over a girl. Like she used to be with the guy in Ultrawave, but now she’s dating the guy in Residue. This can’t be something to drum up some publicity since fighting over this stuff to the point of death threats is more a rap, metal, and hard core rock kind of thing.”

Robert nodded a little as he took a long drag. It sounded like it might be a hexenbiest cursing someone. Then again pretty much anyone would acquire a curse from them if they could pay up. So that wasn’t much help. “So do you think the girl could be behind it? You think she’s here tonight?”

Pablo shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know… But the tension between those bands is building… Someone’s going to get hurt soon. Ultrasound was meant to be playing tonight but I heard they had to bale at the last second…”

Mat didn’t like the sound of that. “You sure? That doesn’t sound like them…”

“I know right? But Residue is playing at a gig later this week, so that might be a better option than tonight? Did any of this help you out Grimm?”

Robert nodded a little. He had a pretty good idea that whoever the mystery girl was, she was the source of the problem. It sounded like she might have been using a love potion that went bad. Either that or she was a horribly manipulative woman. “Yeah, I have an idea what might be the cause of it. Make sure I can see Residue and I might be able to fix things.”

Mat breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks man. You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that.”

Robert shrugged. “Whatever. You two enjoy your music… I’m more of a Tom Waits kind of guy anyway.”

“You sure?” Asked Mat. “You really don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“Seriously, I’m done,” said Robert. “I’ll drop by The Coffee Spoon if I have any info. You can give me the details about where Residue is playing then or drop them off at my house.”

“Um… okay. See you later I guess.”

Robert nodded and made his way back through the park. His books didn’t have too much information on specific hexes and potions. He’d have to ask Mary if she knew anything. If not he might have to consider taking up Damien’s offer to use his library.

As he was lost in thought a woman in green body paint and cat ears almost ran into him as she brushed past him. “Sorry!” She called out as she quickly joined a group of other young ladies in body paint and fake fluffy animal ears dancing to the music.

He would have just kept walking if he wasn’t mildly entranced by one of them. She was completely covered from head to toe in shiny bluish-green body paint, which was in stark contrast to her blood red hair and bright pink lips. She looked like she had long pointed ears, similar to that of an elf, but it was hard to tell.

Realising he probably looked kind of creepy watching them dance around, being as old as he was, Robert quickly left the park and got into his truck. She could have been a wesen, but it was more than likely she was just some girl out having fun. He had much more important things to worry about now anyway.


	14. Merlot red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The alternate titles for this chapter was going to be "Robert can't deal with drunk people when he's sober", "Mary and Damien get red wine wasted" but those were just a little too wordy. Enjoy.

Despite the lack of Robert’s appearance, Damien ended up going to Jim and Kim’s with Mary. He sighed deeply as he stared into the deep red of his glass of merlot. He had only had a few sips from this particular glass but he already felt sick. He wondered if he was coming down with an illness of some sort, but he wasn’t sure.

Picking up on his bad mood, Mary lightly taped his leg with her foot. “You okay Dames?”

“I’m sorry Mary. I’m not going to be very good company tonight… I was hoping to talk to Robert and thought he would be here tonight but he declined my invitation…” He sipped his wine and felt worse for it. “I still feel guilty about the whole trying to murder him business, but I fear he is repulsed by me now…”

“Repulsed is a pretty strong word.” Mary drank her wine and hummed a little. “If anything he’s more cautious of you now. As far as I know he isn’t repulsed by wesen in the slightest, though some of us are uglier than others.”

“I know, but still… I feel as though he has been avoiding me…”

“He’s been avoiding everyone in the cul-de-sac,” corrected Mary. “Look, you can’t blame him after everyone panicked and attempted to kill him. Hell, when you found out you scratched him up pretty badly. Surprised you didn’t go any deeper.”

Damien smiled a little and looked down at his nails. He very easily could have sunk his claws into the soft flesh of Robert’s cheek or stomach and ripped out chunks. Despite being a Grimm he was still human, he wasn’t invincible. He himself had questioned why he didn’t just sink his claws into Robert’s neck and rip it out. 

He knew that he hated blood and raw meat in general. Murder was also something he was adamantly against, though he had broken it twice to save his son. He could still vividly remember the light leaving their eyes as they fell from the trees.

The first one had been surprisingly easy to do. They had practically run right into him and Damien was more than happy to forgo his human sentimentalities and morals to get revenge on his son’s abductors. Their blood and meat felt warm and sticky on his skin as he carelessly scooped it out of their abdomen. He suspected his quick slashes had torn into their lungs making it impossible to scream for help or in pain.

The second had been a bit of a surprise as it had tried to sneak up from behind to attack him. But Damien was more than prepared. When he was woged his hearing was practically impossible to beat. He had let them get close before he turned and sunk his teeth deep into their throat. By then all humanity in his mind had ceased to be and he let his claws hollow out their mid-section as he kept a firm grip on their throat with his teeth. 

As much as it disgusted him, Damien had to acknowledge that he in that instant he was not human. Nowhere near it, not even close. He wasn’t human and he liked it. He had never truly liked his wesen side and as a result he had never really let loose like he had that night. His feelings about himself were just as confusing as to the reason he couldn’t just let loose and kill Robert when he had the chance.

“Maybe I knew deep down he wasn’t a bad guy?” Damien finished off his glass and poured himself some more. “Maybe I thought it was all a horrific nightmare and I would wake up if I hurt him a little… I didn’t want to think that Robert was, is, a Grimm…”

Mary shrugged. “So what? He’s a Grimm. Get over it. You can’t blame a whole group of people over the actions of a few people. That’s just dumb.”

“… How did you overlook it?” He asked. “How could you overlook it? Grimms are… It would be like a human coming face to face with a demon. How can you overlook that?”

Mary thought for a moment, gently swirling her wine around her glass as she did so. “It might be hard to believe but Robert is much more of an open book than you might think. I was scared he was going to kill me, petrified even when we first met… But when he saw how scared I was he just looked so defeated and tired. It wasn’t the monster I expected to see at all.” She smiled a little. “I then wondered how lonely he really was.”

“Lonely…” Damien had suspected that might have been the case since he had spoken to Robert at Joseph’s place, and when he made that comment about how everyone should just avoid him and ignore him it pretty much confirmed his suspicions.

“Yeah. It’s got to be pretty lonely being a Grimm. Robert told me that you’re more likely to get buried alive then to find another Grimm. Apparently being a Grimm is a genetic thing and can be dormant in a blood line for generations. It’s just a fluke that him, his old pappy, and his daughter are Grimms.”

“Robert has a daughter? Oh wait… yes, he mentioned that to me once…”

“Yeah, she’s his contact up in Boston.” Mary poured herself some more wine and topped up Damien’s cup. “Apparently she and him don’t get along too well. My guess is that everything fell to shit when his wife passed away. They pretty much have a business relationship now.”

Damien felt awful and the constant alcohol wasn’t really helping much with his current mindset. “Do you… do you know how his wife passed away?”

“No clue. He doesn’t talk about her, but I can’t blame him though. He loved her enough to settle down and have a kid.” She sipped her wine and looked wistfully off into the distance. “Must be hard… You tell your kid there’s no such thing as monsters but then one day your kid starts seeing them. At least with normal people they believe that lie, and with us we can help them understand what they are.”

“… You do realise you’re making me feel more guilty? Humanising him is just… it’s too much for me at the moment…” He sighed a little and ran his finger along the grain of the scuffed table. He could feel the wine finally taking affect and making his mind foggy. “He doesn’t even call me Dames anymore…”

“Hmm?”

“Close friends give each other nicknames. You’ve always called me Dames affectionately and it makes me feel happy that I am close to you,” he explained. “It was nice when Robert called me that too. I felt close to him. Like he considered me a friend too, but ever since our misunderstanding no matter how many times I have profusely apologised he has only referred to me by my name…”

“By misunderstanding you mean the time you tried to murder him?”

“… Yes.”

“Can you really blame him for not being overly friendly with you after that?”

“… No. But it still hurts.” He sniffled a little and drank the rest of his wine. Everything was just starting to feel heavy.

Mary reached across the table and held Damien’s hand. “You got it bad don’t you hun?”

“Hmm? Got what?”

“It’s pretty obvious you like him Dames,” said Mary. “You could have killed him, but you didn’t. You could have just ignored him, but you reached out to him a few times. Hell, you’re even upset he’s not using your nickname anymore.”

“What me? Like him? No way.” Damien poured himself some more wine, easily finishing off the bottle. “I mean, he’s a Grimm. Even if I did feel that way about him there’s no way he would date a wesen. My other self is not going to win any beauty contests. If anything it looks like Nosferatu’s uglier, inbred cousin…” 

“Dames, there are way uglier wesen out there,” reassured Mary. “Those blobfish guys? Super fugly. Leech people?” She gagged a little. Her efforts managed to get a chuckle out of Damien. “And what about those scarab beetle mo-fos? They look decent until they open their mouth. Those guys put most body horror monsters to shame.”

“I guess… But there’s still too much baggage there… Do you think he would even be interested in me? Even if I wasn’t a wesen, and tried to kill him?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t he be? You’re grate.” Mary quickly finished off her wine. “Look, he knows that you used to be a different body shape in collage, seen you in your work clothes, and you can bet your cloak that he knew all about you being a bat guy before he set foot in your house… and I don’t remember what my point was. But you’re not boring. I think that was my point?”

“Hmm… Would you support a relationship between a Grimm and a wesen?”

Mary shrugged. “Sure, why not? As long as you two don’t kill each other I don’t see the point in trying to prevent it from happening. I did warn Robert when you first invited him over for tea to try and keep it PG, but since you tried to kill him that ship has sailed. Go nuts kid.”

He was still doubtful. “I don’t know… What if other wesen found out? There has to be some unwritten law about this kind of thing…”

“Eh, probably. But who’s gonna fuck with a Grimm?” She sipped her drink and smirked. “Well, besides you of course.”

Damien went bright red, but laughed anyway due to the alcohol. “Really Mary. Must you be so crass? How many bottles have we had tonight?”

“Between us? Like… Three?” She shrugged and leaned back in her seat. “Maybe we should head home and stuff?”

“Yeah… See if Robert is back from doing his Grimm stuff.”

“What the hell was his Grimm business anyway?”

“I don’t know… I just assumed that he didn’t want to be around me.”

“Bullshit.” Mary staggered to her feet, leaning against the table to balance. “You know what? We’re going to go and see what all this bullshit is about. He didn’t even tell me he was doing Grimm shit tonight. So it’s obviously fucking bullshit.”

Damien nodded in agreement and also got to his feet. “Yes. It isn’t fair that he is lying to us about these things…”

***

The pair of them slowly made their way back to the cul-de-sac. It was purely by chance that they managed to actually make it to Robert’s door. Mary hit his door a few times. “Hey! Get your fat ass out here! You got some explaining to do!”

Moments later Robert opened the door looking extremely confused. “What do you two want? Are you drunk?”

Mary pushed past him and pulled Damien inside. “We’re fed up with your bullshit. Why are you avoiding us? We don’t give a fuck about your Grimm shit anymore. Why did you blow off Dames? Hee, blow Dames… You got something against us wesen now?”

“… What the hell are you talking about?” Asked Robert. “Where is all this coming from?”

While the two of them argued Damien had a look around Robert’s lounge room. It was messy and had several empty cans and bottles of alcohol strewn everywhere and there were a few stray dog toys. That really captivated Damien. Robert once mentioned he had a dog once. He had to find it.

Damien pulled some dog treats out from his cloak and started to search for the elusive pooch. He eventually found the pup chasing her stumpy tail in the laundry. She was the most adorable and goofy looking Boston terrier that he had ever seen.

“You are so cute…” he cooed as he offered her treats.

The terrier cautiously approached him and sniffed at his hand before scarfing down the treats and licking his hand. “Boof!”

Damien made a small inhumane noise and scooped the pup up in his arms. “You are too beautiful and precious and pure and innocent. I love you. I love you so much miss…” He quickly checked her collar. “Betsy. You are so precious Betsy. I love you. I love you so much.”

Betsy just wagged her tail and happily sniffed Damien’s vest, face, hair and anything else she could stick her snout against. “Boof!”

He chuckled a little, stood up and walked back to where Mary and Robert were arguing. Though now said arguing had devolved into Mary hugging Robert’s arm and laughing while Robert just looked more confused than ever. She beamed when she saw Damien. “Dames, you found Betsy!”

“Yes,” said Damien. “She is a darling and a treasure and my baby. I’m keeping her.”

Robert frowned at him. “What? No! She’s mine! You can hold her while you’re here but you have to leave her here. Isn’t your kid allergic to dogs?”

“Oh… oh dear…” Damien started to get all teary eyed. “Lucien… I don’t want to make him sick… he’s already been through so much…”

Mary growled at Robert. “Now look at what you’ve done. You’ve made him have the sad feels.”

Robert looked exasperated. He led both Mary and Damien to the couch and went to make them some coffee. “You two need to sober up a little, before you do something stupid. Like trying to steal my dog.”

Damien pouted and cuddled Betsy some more. “Not steal… Liberate…” Everything was relatively quiet till Robert came back with some coffee for Damien and Mary, both of whom readily accepted their drinks. 

Robert sat on the couch opposite them and sighed a little. “Okay, now what the hell is going on here? I go off to do my own thing for one night and you two get shit faced without me. I don’t even what to know how much you two drank to get you both like this.”

“You’re ignoring us!” Whined Mary. “You can just say you don’t wanna be around us. You don’t have to make up that you’re off doing Grimm stuff to try and save our feelings… You’re a fucking asshole.”

“You don’t call me Dames anymore…”

“And you don’t call him Dames! Dick move!”

Robert put his head in his hands and muttered some curses under his breath. “Look, I was doing Grimm stuff for Matt and-”

“Oh!” Chimed Mary. “He’s hanging out with Mat now? What? Am I not cool enough for you anymore?”

“Shut up for a second,” snapped Robert. “Mat thinks some wesen might be fucking around with some musician’s and he’s asked me to have a look. As far as I can tell it might be some chick using some love spell or curse or something. I don’t really know… Look, you two need to go home and get to bed. I’m too sober to deal with your nonsense.”

Mary groaned a little but reluctantly got up. “Fine… Come on Dames. Let’s head back.”

“Okay Mary…” Damien followed her towards the door.

However when they got to the door Robert quickly put his hand on Damien’s shoulder and turned him around. “Hey, you forgetting something?”

Damien was confused. “I don’t think so?”

Robert rolled his eyes and scooped Betsy out of Damien’s arms and put her on the ground. She ran around Robert’s legs a few times before she bolted back into the depths of the house. “Betsy is my dog.”

“… Right.” He reached out and grabbed Robert’s jacket. He hardly registered that he had woged in front of him. “Robert… Why don’t you call me Dames anymore? Is it because I’m like this? A big old bat wesen? Don’t you like bats?”

Robert sighed and put his hands on Damien’s shoulders. “Look, this is something we can talk about tomorrow when you’re sober. Right now you’re in no condition to do anything. Much less talk about this.”

“… You don’t like me anymore, do you? Is that it? Is it because I tried to kill you?”

“Look, I’ll start calling you Dames again, just go home. Please?”

“… Okay…” Damien stumbled back to his house and somehow managed to unlock the door. He took one last peek over at Robert’s place only to see him running over to help Mary stand up. It seemed as though at some point during their conversation Mary had tripped over and was having some difficulty getting back on her feet and to her door. 

Damien couldn’t help but chuckle at them as he stumbled into his home. His bedroom was so far away and he was very tired. He shrugged and flopped down onto the couch. He knew it was a bad idea to do so, but he didn’t care too much. That was a problem for future, sober Damien to deal with.


	15. Research in the private library

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musai: (moo-sahy) a muse-like wesen. Similar to ziegevolk they can emotionally manipulate their targets. Their targets are generally male artists, musicians, composers, and authors as they claim they can sense untapped potential. They feel no remorse for any death or destruction that their influence causes, as they feel they have done no wrong. Their influence causes their targets to become obsessive, and will kill or die to be with her.
> 
> Also, mild body dysphoria at the beginning so mild trigger warning I guess?

Past drunk Damien was a whore. At least as far as present Damien was concerned. Because of his past self’s stupidity he currently had a hangover, felt gross, worst of all his chest hurt like hell because he didn’t take off his binder before he passed out, and most embarrassing of all, Lucien had been the one to wake him up while he was getting ready for school. Today was not going to be a good day. 

He knew today he was going to experience more dysphoria than most. His morning routine consisted mostly of angry crying and cursing his own stupidity. He would have to call in sick today and wear baggy clothes. Something he loathed to do, but he didn’t want to walk around in his pajamas all day, and he needed to give his ribs a rest.

Damien had just settled into his bed after changing and taking a painkiller when he heard someone knocking on the door. With a disappointed sigh, Damien dragged himself down to the front door. He’d only open it ever so slightly to see who it was. There were very few people he would allow to see himself in such a state of undress.

Much to Damien’s shock and horror, it was Robert. He squeaked and promptly slammed the door in his face in a panic. He hoped Robert didn’t see him, or hear him squeak, or hear him slam the door. Alas, that was way too much to ask.

“Open up,” called Robert. “I know you’re in there Damien. I need to use your library. I’m stuck on a case. Please Dames?”

Damien felt his heart flutter a little when he heard Robert call him Dames. He looked down at himself and quietly cursed again. He didn’t want to be seen like this. But Robert had seen him when his body had involuntarily presented himself as female all those years ago, and he had seen him in his work clothes, and in his wesen form. What was one more round of embarrassment?

Very reluctantly Damien quickly ushered Robert inside. He was unsure if there was some way he could cross his arms over his body to minimize any potential cleavage he might or might not be showing under his heavy jumper.

Luckily for him, Robert made a beeline for his library. “Hi Dames, nice to see you made it home alright.”

“…” Damien followed closely behind him. “Did I go over to your place last night?”

Robert glanced over at Damien as he walked into his library. “Yeah. You and Mary got piss drunk and came over accusing me of ditching you two and stuff… You also tried to steal my dog when I eventually got you two to leave.” He started to look through the books on the shelves.

Damien nodded a little, still very self-conscious about how he looked. “Um… Are you looking for anything in particular?”

“Anything on love potions.”

“L-love potions? Why?” He couldn’t help but feel a small blush creeping across his face. “You do know they must be mixed by a professional, right? The consequences for using such things… They can make people do all kinds of unspeakable things if done poorly…”

“I know,” muttered Robert. “Some hexenbiest once dosed me up with one in an attempt to stop me from killing her. She made me look in a mirror and tried to get me to fall in love with myself. Jokes on her, my self-loathing is more powerful than any love potion.”

“… So why do you want to know about love potions?” Damien started to gather up books on wesen home remedies and medicines.

Robert sighed a little. “Guess you don’t remember… well last night I told you Mat asked for my help looking into something that might be wesen related. I think someone’s using a love potion.”

“I see…” Damien put the books on his desk and started to flip through them. Helping Robert seemed like a good distraction, at least for now. It was quite endearing watching Robert struggle to read some of the more wildly cursive writing. He often had to hand the book over to him to translate.

***

Robert hadn’t expected Damien to help him out, but he was glad he was. All this loopy writing was messing with his head. He hated cursive so much. He didn’t give a damn if it made writing faster for people back in the day, it annoyed him. Sometimes the writing was so loopy he couldn’t even tell if he was reading English in some cases.

“… Dames, what the hell are tallywags?”

Damien went bright red. “Excuse me?”

Robert showed him the page he was on. “This love potion calls for a pair of powdered tallywags.”

“Ah… well… Tallywags are Victorian slang for testicals…”

“… Ouch.” Robert had to wonder if it was impossible to make a love potion without using some poor animal’s genitals. From everything he had read so far that was not the case.

“Indeed… Robert, many of these potions have very similar effects on someone when they go bad; obsession, stalking, and in the very worst cases rape and murder.” He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I must confess I am nowhere near as good at apothecary as Mary is. She would probably know more about this than I do. The only thing I know about love potions is that the spit of a Cupiditas make the most powerful potions.”

Robert nodded and started to look through some more books. Each love potion had a different way of breaking their effects ranging from it wearing off on its own to true love’s kiss. These love potions were way more complicated and messed up than they were worth. Things would be simpler if no potions were involved and it was just a wesen.

As far as he knew the only wesen that could naturally mess with people’s minds without making an actual potion like that were ziegevolk, and this horrible puffer fish looking wesen he had met in New Orleans once. The big difference between them was that ziegevolk tended to use their pheromones to get laid, the puffer fish wesen tended to use their tetrodotoxin spit to turn people into zombies. Not the flesh eating kind, but the more tradition Voodoo style zombies.

Suddenly Robert’s eyes lit up. “… It’s not a potion.”

Damien frowned a little. “Pardon?”

Robert grinned at him and started to look through his shelves again. “What if it’s not a potion made by a hexenbiest? What if it’s a wesen? Like a female ziegevolk or something? Some kind of wesen that messes with your head and makes you crazy. Maybe one that likes music?” Even if it wasn’t a ziegevolk there had to be other wesen he didn’t know about that manipulated people’s minds this way. 

Suddenly Damien’s head shot up from his book. “Music?”

“Yeah, Mat was asking me to help him with this thing because two band members were fighting over a girl or something,” said Robert. “Why?”

Damien quickly went over to a pile of books and grabbed a few. “I think I know what we might be looking for now… Her!” He showed Robert a black and white sketch of an elf woman in a Greek inspired toga. The writing next to the picture was all in Greek, so Robert had no idea what it said.

“Dames, I can’t read this.”

The bat wesen sighed. “Robert, if you’re looking for a wesen that makes people fall in love to the point of madness, you are looking for a musai. A muse. They are attracted to people with untapped artistic potential.”

Robert felt as though there was a but coming up. “So what’s the catch?”

“Well… The kiss of a musai is deadly. They secrete a psychotropic substance from their lips, making it the most addictive and euphoric experience known to man,” said Damien. “Once a relationship has been established between an artist and a musai it is sealed with a kiss. It always ends in madness, destruction and death…”

This was bad news for Robert. “Seriously? Shit, Mat is not going to like this… Is there some way to cure it?”

“True love’s kiss is the only way,” said Damien. “It is a little cliché in this day and age I know, but it works.” He opened up another book, this one looked more tattered and worn than the others. Actually, it looked like a children’s book to Robert.

“What’s that?”

“Wesen fairytales,” he answered. “Ah yes, The Madness of Lord Schwachkopf, or Lord Nitwit as it translates.”

“… Right.” It appeared as though Robert was about to get a lesson in wesen fairytales.

Damien cleared his throat a little. “This is a cautionary tale about obsession and what happens when you neglect responsibilities. The young Lord is a painter you see, but is unable to pursue his passion as regularly as he must due to his duties. He falls in love with this woman from Greece who tells him to stop seeing her or he will regret it. Eventually they get together and her kiss seals his doom. He locked himself away and paints hundreds of pictures of his muse. He refuses to eat, drink, and sleep until his magnum opus is complete.”

“And he eventually dies, right?”

“Very much so,” said Damien. “He died painting a portrait of his muse while his people starved and turned against him… But not before he discovered his muse had left him and he burned half his land looking for her.”

“… Wesen fairytales are hardcore.”

“They fortunately have not been given the Disney treatment.”

Robert nodded a little and looked at the picture that went along with that story. Much to his surprise it was similar to the picture in the other book; young woman in a toga. However this was coloured and what he saw shocked him. The musai had blood red hair, bluish-green skin, and bright blue eyes.

“Son of a bitch…” He muttered. “I saw her yesterday.”

“What?”

Robert pointed to the picture of the musai. “Her. A musai! She was at that music festival thing that I went to last night to talk to Mat. I just thought she was some weird chick in body paint. There were a lot of those there… You sure a true love’s kiss is the only thing that can fix this? Not even a massive detox?”

Damien thought about it for a moment. “Perhaps… But I don’t know. The victim of a musai often becomes completely unstable and kill themselves before that happens…”

This was definitely not good news to Robert, and absolutely terrible news for Mat. “How long until the whole murder thing starts?”

Damien shrugged. “Supposedly true madness starts to set in around the time their magnum opus has been completed. Many mistake this madness as the price all great artists must endure for their legacy… If I do remember correctly I remember someone once mentioned that Van Gogh was the victim of a musai’s kiss…”

“You don’t say… Well thanks for that Dames. I’ll be off now.” Robert attempted to neatly stack the books he had been looking at since he didn’t know where they went.

“Oh… okay. Until next time I guess…”

Robert knew that tone all too well. It was the same tone Val used when she wanted to keep talking but he shut her out in favour of doing other things. “… How is Lucien going after everything?”

“He is having fewer nightmares… or he has stopped talking to me about them.” Damien sighed sadly. “I’m going to have to insist he goes to therapy. I strongly believe he has developed, or will develop PTSD. Unfortunately it’s hard to find a wesen psychiatrist that will be able to understand some of his inner turmoil… And don’t even get me started on how much he despises therapists in the first place…”

“Ah… I hope things turn out okay for him. He’s a good kid. I’d hate to see his life go to shit over this…”

“Me too… Maybe you could talk to him?” Suggested Damien. “Granted talking to a Grimm might not be best for him, but I’m sure you have been in similar situations. He might benefit from knowing how you coped with it.”

Robert was surprised to hear Damien say that, but he could understand where he was coming from. He still remembered holding a then thirteen year old Val in his arms while she cried her heart out when a disgusting snake wesen had attempted to kill her in broad daylight. He had taken care of the monster of course, but it didn’t stop her nightmares from persisting for years after. He would have done anything to stop that from happening to her.

“Alright, but after I deal with this musai,” said Robert. “Maybe by then you’ll feel better and we can have that drink and Jim and Kim’s you invited me out for the other day.”

Damien smiled a little. “Okay. I look forward to it… and thank you.”

Robert smiled a little. “Think nothing of it… Hope you feel better soon too.” He didn’t want to mention it before, but he had been pretty sure that Damien was having what Mary had called a real bad day. He had only actually noticed Damien acting a little weird a full half an hour into their research but didn’t really know what to do, so he did what he normally does in these situations. He ignored it. It probably wasn’t the best thing to do, but he didn’t know what else to do.

He decided to head over to The Coffee Spoon to let Mat know what he had found out. They ended up talking in the back room while Pablo took over taking down customer orders. Robert informed Mat that he was pretty damn sure they were looking at the handy work of a musai.

Mat was a little more than distraught to hear that. “Seriously? That’s terrible… Musai are just the worst for creative people… Thank god there’s not a lot of them.” He looked Robert dead in the eyes. “What are you going to do?”

Robert shrugged. “I was planning to go to where Residue was playing, find her, and intimidate her into leaving Maple Bay. I try not to use my machete as the first option if I can help it… The geier thing was kind of an exception.”

“Alright…” Mat took a flyer out of his pocket and handed it to Robert. “Here. Residue’s playing at a dive bar across town. Tickets at the door. You’ll want to get their early and… you might want to dress more… Metal, if you catch my drift.”

Robert chuckles a little. “This isn’t my first rodeo Mat. Things will be back to normal by Monday.” He walked outside and called Mary. “Hey fox face, wanna go see a metal concert?”


	16. Empty yet effective threats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ended up staying up writing the chapter all night because I was too worried to sleep because of the marriage equality vote in Australia. Glad to say that the yes vote won as it should. So super excited about that. :D

Robert and Mary met up outside the dive where the band was meant to be playing. Arguably they were the least metal looking out of the group, but they didn’t look overly out of place. Robert had just worn his usual clothes but replaced his red shirt with a black one with a skull on it. Mary was wearing jeans, a black shirt and her old punk jacket. No one looked at them twice, so they took it as a good sign.

“So, Joseph let you leave the house looking like that?” Asked Robert as he stubbed his cigarette out against a brick wall.

Mary scoffed at the notion. “Yeah, right. I over fed Crish, got dressed, and handed the ticking diaper bomb off to Joseph when he dropped one. Works every time.”

Robert chuckled a little. “He’s a good kid that Crish. Always there when you need him.”

“Yep. He’s a good bean… At least that’s what Christie called him the other day,” she hummed a little. “A good small bean. Is calling someone a bean a cute term now that the young people use?”

“How should I know? Ask Joseph. He’s a youth minister. Shouldn’t he be hip with the youths?” The doors opened and people started to go in. “Cool youth minister and all that. Totally tubular dude.”

Mary cringed. “For the love of all things holy never, ever, ever say that again… Ever. I think just hearing those forbidden words have aged me another twenty years…”

Robert laughed as he paid the ridiculously low admission price and headed in. “Mary you don’t look a day over sixty.”

“… Call me sixty again and I’m going to kick your ass so hard I’ll knock your teeth out.” She quickly looked around the swelling crowd and sigh a little. “So you know what this musai looks like when she isn’t woged?”

“Not a clue. But she’s girlfriend to one of the band members. Shouldn’t be too hard to spot her.” He looked around at the people coming in. He and Mary were definitely on the older end of the spectrum. “So do they get red hair when they woge or do they always have red hair?”

Mary shrugged. “Well considering musai only have red hair and our appearances drastically change from our wesen forms, kind of stands to reason a musai would have a different hair colour.”

“Fun.” He looked around the crowd to see if he could spot the elusive musai amongst the rest of the metal heads. It was surprisingly hard to do. He would have thought that the musai would have dressed up in something colourful, but apparently not. Everyone was in some shade of black with accents of white and red.

Mary and Robert watched as the first band came on and started playing some song and death and killing people. Maybe. It really just sounded like a bunch of guttural grunts and bellows to him. Though he had to admit the instrumentals were really good.

After about twenty minutes or so Robert was starting to itch for a cigarette. He really needed to quit. He quickly let Mary know what he was doing before he ducked out the back exit. Turns out he wasn’t the only one needing a smoke.

A few young people were talking loudly near him about one of the bands meant to be playing tonight, and he was quite pleased to see that they seemed to be talking about Residue. They had to be, they were talking about a girl coming in and changing everything, possibly ending the band. They didn’t look like Beetle’s fans, so they had to be talking about Residue. Robert did his best to eavesdrop without looking too suspicious.

“… Death threats every other day,” said a youth. “Pretty fucking messed up, and all over that chick too? Bitch doesn’t even look like she’s ever listened to metal in her life. Bet she can’t even name three classic metal bands.”

He friend shrugged. “Whatever man. The chick shit is fucking annoying. Just make fucking music. No one gives a fuck about who you’re fucking backstage. What the hell’s her name anyway? Karen? Kareena?”

“Yeah, it’s Kareena. She was dating that dance music guy from that other band, Ultrawave… Can you believe a guy like that is fighting to keep her? She’s a total groupie slut.”

“No shit?”

“Yeah, a buddy of mine said she goes to like, all the indie music festivals and tries to get close to like all the band members.”

“Slut. Does she throw herself at every guy or something?”

“I don’t know man. She doesn’t even seem to have a type; front man, guitarist, drums, DJ… As long as you can do something musical you’re good enough for this girl and- fuck there she is.”

Robert looked over to where the youths had gestured. If he had to guess this Kareena looked like she was in her early twenties. She looked pretty enough with her long brunet hair and natural makeup. He wondered how he was going to approach her without sounding or looking like a total creep when she walked over to him.

“Mind if I bum a smoke off you?” She asked sweetly.

Robert hummed a little and offered her one of his. “Need to light it too?” 

“Please,” said Kareena with a small smile. Robert quickly pulled out his lighter and lit her cigarette. “Thanks handsome.”

“Girl, I’m old enough to be your dad.” While it was nice to be hit on by younger people, even Robert had to admit he was way to sober for any real flirting. 

She laughed a little and leaned against the wall next to him. “I like older men. I’m Kareena, and you are?”

“Robert.”

“Haven’t seen you around the music scene before. You new to town?”

Robert shrugged. “Been here a few months now. A buddy of mine is really into the music scene in Maple Bay. He suggested I come here and check out some band called Residue.”

“What do you think of them?” Kareena seemed to be intrigued by whatever his answer would be.

“I haven’t heard much from them, but I guess they sound alright.”

She chuckled a little. “They are good, but tonight I feel as though they will reach the height of their musical potential.”

“Oh really now?”

“Yep,” she smiled sweetly at Robert. “You play any instruments? I can see some real untapped potential in you just waiting to burst out. Wanna talk somewhere more private?” Kareena gestured towards the side alley, away from the prying eyes of the youths. They were no doubt trying to see if they could overhear anything to gossip about later to other people.

“… Yeah, alright.” Robert stubbed out his cigarette and followed her into the alley. “Thought you were with one of the band members of Residue? He’s like, half my age. You got some daddy kink?”

She laughed a little. “I have a thing for people with artistic potential and that guy after tonight… well I’m just not that into him as I once was. Time to move on to better things. Guys my age don’t know how to treat a woman. But I bet an experienced guy knows how to treat a woman, right?”

Robert chuckled a little. “Don’t know about women, but I know how to treat a musai.”

Kareena jumped a little and woged. Her skin turned an almost iridescent bluish-green as her ears elongated, her hair turned blood red, and her eyes became completely blue. She looked utterly terrified when she looked into Robert’s eyes. “A Grimm?” 

“Fucking right.” He slammed his hand into the wall right next to Kareena’s head and snarled. “Look here, I’m fucking tired of all the bullshit you’re pulling in my town. If you want to do this shit you’re going to pay dearly.”

To his surprise a small smile appeared on Kareena’s lips and she giggled a little. “Mr Grimm, are you threatening me? You know all I have to do is scream and people will come running to help me. I’m just a poor defenceless girl and you… You’re old enough to be my grandfather.” She tried to sound confident but she still looked sacred.

There was no doubt in Robert’s mind that she did have a grandfather as old as him. “Look, you’re fucking up the lives of a lot of people here in Maple Bay.”

Now Kareena just seemed confused. “Me? What did I do? I haven’t done anything to anyone.”

“Don’t play dumb with me,” growled Robert. “You and I both know what a kiss from one of you can do to a person.”

She shrugged. “You don’t understand. A short, artistic, and passionate life is better than living a long life of untapped potential. Why can’t you understand that?”

“Insanity and death is a fucking heavy price to pay for art.”

“Isn’t a short meaningful life better than a long pointless one?” Asked Kareena. She looked deep into Robert’s eyes. “I can sense untapped potential in you too… It’s wild and strong but buried under the self-harm of alcohol, cigarettes, and unjust regret… I can help you. Granted it’s not the type of inspiration I usually give, but it can help. I can help you become the greatest, most well-known Grimm to all of wesen kind.” She reached out to touch his face. “Just one small kiss is all it takes…”

He grabbed her wrist and glared at her. “Kareena, get the fuck out of Maple Bay. If I ever see you again, I will kill you. Understand?”

“But I-”

He squeezed hard and snarled at her. “Did I fucking stutter? Do you understand? Yes or no.” He didn’t like to get violent with women, but this was all about intimidation. He had to terrify her so badly that she would leave and never come back. “Answer me.”

Kareena nodded quickly. “I-I’ll leave tomorrow morning. I’ll never come to Maple Bay again. I swear.”

“Tonight,” corrected Robert. “You are packing your bags and getting the fuck out of here tonight. But I’ll be generous and give you a six o’ clock dead line. Six in the morning that is. I have eyes and ears everywhere. I’ll know if you decide to stay or stay even a second longer than your dead line. You do that you’re fucking dead. Understand?”

Kareena gulped and nodded. “Y-yes sir… Bye.” She quickly ran off into the night. Hopefully that would be the last Maple Bay would see of her.

Robert sighed a little and ran his fingers through his hair. She didn’t seem malicious in her actions just very apathetic about said actions. It was always frustrating dealing with wesen who were just going what came naturally to them.

Suddenly Mary was running towards him looking mildly panicked. “Fucking hell! Thought I lost you for a bit there… Did you take care of the musai?”

“Yeah, I scared the crap out of her. She’s not gonna be in Maple Bay anymore.” Robert noted that Mary still seemed a little frazzled. “What’s wrong? Joseph text you or something?”

Mary chuckled nervously and glanced over her shoulder. “Well… you know how a musai’s kiss leads to madness, insanity, and possible murder and death? Well some normal looking guy is picking a fight with one of the Residue members out the front. Looks like it’s gonna be a punch up.”

Robert groaned in annoyance. He was pretty damn sure the guy from Ultrawave had showed up looking for Kareena. “Fuck… Guess one of us should try and stop it?”

“Don’t look at me,” said Mary. “I’m a mother of four that bites and scratches people to death… Plus these youths are scary. You take care of it. You’re better at fighting than little ol’ me.”

“Is that Mary for you just got your nails done and don’t want to fuck them up?”

“Yes.”

Robert rolled his eyes and headed over to the parking lot. The fight was already in full swing and slowly migrating towards the road. A few people had gathered around to cheer them on and film the whole thing. Robert kind of hoped that someone was calling the cops just so they would break up the fight and he wouldn’t have to deal with it.

Suddenly the guy from Ultrawave pushed the guy from Residue against a car and started punching him repeatedly in the face. No one was stepping in, so Robert decided to do it before anything worse happened. He walked over and pulled them apart. “That’s enough you idiots.”

The guy from Ultrawave snarled at Robert and head butted him in the nose. “FUCK OFF CUNT!”

Completely caught off guard, Robert stumbled back, clutching his nose. He was dazed and bleeding, but he was going to live. Suddenly the sound of a car horn, tires ripping up the road, the squeal of handbrakes, and the crunch of bones filled the air followed by silence that seemed to last a life time. Then the screaming started.

Looking over at the road all Robert could do was stare in shock. The Ultrawave and Residue idiots had brought their fight to the middle of the street, and truck had come out of nowhere and cleaned the both up. If they weren’t dead, they sure as hell were dying.

Managing to pull his eyes away from the bloody scene, Robert saw her. Kareena, standing in full woge on the other side of the street. She was neither happy nor sad at their demise. She just had an apathetic look on her face, even when her eyes met Robert’s. She shrugged at him and walked away.

Her lack of remorse when confronted with her actions was deeply troubling for Robert. Musai, ziegevolk, and all other mind manipulating wesen were the worst.


	17. Police questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bauerschwein; (Bow-ur-shvine) a pig-like wesen. A particularly diligent and hardworking wesen species. Unfortunately they are not particularly strong and therefore are constant victims of blutbads. The feud between bauershwein and blutbad is so bad that any incident that befalls a bauerschwein is instantly blamed on a blutbad even if they had nothing to do with it.
> 
> Also, I know that Saul Graves only appeared in the cult ending (that's apparently been removed now or something, I don't data mine content and don't really care if people think the cult ending is cannon or not. I thought it was an interesting little thing but that's neither here nor there), but I liked the brief cameo his character had while it lasted and thought I'd slip him in.
> 
> Plus who could resist making a cop a literal pig? The jokes people. The jokes

Being a witness to the sudden, grisly murders of the two young men, Robert was questioned by police about what happened. He could only tell them a half truth, saying how he just stepped in to stop the fight and nothing more. He highly doubted they would believe the two men were driven mad by a musai’s kiss.

Robert was currently getting questioned by some portly detective in a dark green trench coat. He was only half listening to whatever questions he was saying. Robert was more interested in how he got that scar over his left eye. It didn’t look very deep, and he could still obviously see out of it. It looked like an old injury, but it could have very well have been a few months old since it wasn’t very deep.

“Mr Small-” said the detective. “-I asked you a question.” 

“Sorry, I missed that Mr detective.”

The detective sighed a little, obviously too tired for this. “Graves. Detective Saul Graves. I asked you what you did after the deceased head butted you.”

Robert shrugged. “I was in a bit of a daze. Stumbled back. Next thing I knew there was screaming and dead bodies. Pretty awful stuff for some of these young people to see.”

Saul raised an eyebrow. “Just for the young people? Seeing two people die is bad for anyone.”

Now Robert had to back pedal a little. He could easily retract what he said and correct himself, or he could do what he always does and spew bullshit. “Used to work in a hospital morgue. Things were always busy when a code black happened. Casualties everywhere. Bodies on top of bodies. Pretty nasty stuff.”

“I see…” Saul obviously didn’t believe him for one second. “So what hospital did you work at?”

“… Well you see-“

“Detective!” Some junior office quickly jogged over to him, causing Saul to look as though he was either constipated or in pain. 

“Ferguson-“ Muttered Saul. “-what did I say about interrupting me when I talk to a witness?”

“Um well…”

“You don’t!” Saul woged as he snapped at the younger man. Pointed ears, wrinkled face, and a pig snout. He was a bauerschwine. Robert had to refrain from blurting out every all cops are pigs jokes that just suddenly flooded his mind as Saul continued to berate the younger officer. Eventually he left and Saul turned back to Robert. “Now, where were-?”

Robert shrugged. “Yeah, I’m a Grimm. What of it?”

Instead of fear Saul just looked surprised then he chuckled. “I’m guessing you’re the new Grimm of Maple Bay I’ve been hearing about? Heard you took care of a geier problem a while back. A little messy, but efficient.”

“I am neither confirming nor denying that was me.” He glanced over at Mary who was patiently waiting for Robert to be done so they could go home.

“Fair enough…” muttered Saul. He took a card out of his pocket and quickly scribbled down a number. “Look, you’re a Grimm and I’m wesen. The things you do are pretty damn illegal at the best of times and it would be a good idea to keep me in the loop.” He pressed the card into Robert’s hand.

Robert frowned a little and looked down at the number of the card. “Okay, let’s say hypothetically I don’t keep you in the loop. What then?”

Saul shrugged. “I re-examine the evidence at the geier crime scene and make sure everyone knows it wasn’t some bear that mauled them all to death.” Robert was a little confused by that statement considering he knew at least four of them weren’t mauled by any animal. “Bears got into the cabin and contaminated the crime scene,” clarified Saul.

“Ah…”

“Either way, I can get you and everyone else involved in it for murder,” said Saul calmly. “I’m not trying to blackmail you, but I need to know what kind of wesen are causing trouble in Maple Bay.”

It sounded an awful lot like blackmail to Robert. “Fine. I’ll keep you informed.” He looked over at the crime scene. “… Might come up in your tox report, but those two guys were high as fuck on some psychotropic substance. It was the work of a musai called Kareena. I took care of it.”

“You killed her?” Asked Saul.

Robert chuckled and shook his head. “I don’t just murder wesen. But she’s no longer going to be in Maple Bay. Can I go home now detective?” 

Saul let him go and Robert walked over to Mary. She didn’t look too freaked out, but Robert could tell she was unsettled by what had happened. “Fucking hell… That was really fucked up…” she muttered. “What did that bauerschwine want?”

“What all wesen want when they have power, a Grimm to carry out their dirty work… By the way I probably should have gone back to clean up the mess we made with the geier.”

“Blackmail?”

“Yep.”

Mary groaned in frustration. “Really? For fuck’s sake… What did you do about the musai?”

Robert shrugged and started to walk back to his truck. “I scared the shit out of her. She’s not gonna come back here ever again.”

“… Well you know what this means, right?”

He grinned. “Free coffee and banana bread?”

“Free coffee and banana bread.”

***

Needless to say Mat was more than a little upset that people had died, but he was grateful that the musai was gone. It was unfortunate but things were going to get very heavy in the Maple Bay indie music scene for a while. It was going to be a huge tragedy that everyone was going to talk about for months. Hopefully some kind of good could come out of it.

Mat was slumped over one of the tables at the Coffee Spoon. He was just opening up when Robert had arrived to tell him the news. “Thanks man… I still can’t believe it. I didn’t know them personally, but I know people who know them and… It’s going to be hard…” 

Robert nodded a little. “Yeah, I can imagine so. Seeing those bodies… Pretty messed up.”

“But you’re a Grimm. You’re used to seeing that kind of stuff.”

“I’m used to beheading my problems. Not seeing kids turned to jam,” corrected Robert. “… Look, I didn’t want to see things end this way… I was planning on scaring off the musai, and then kidnapping those two guys and waiting till her poison worked its way out of them. Sorry.”

Mat smiled sadly. “I know Robert… And I really appreciate what you did. I’m sorry I didn’t stick up for you before when well… you know. I’d rather not have someone so dangerous living near children.”

“… Isn’t Craig your next door neighbour? He’s a blutbad. He’s arguably the most dangerous one living there.”

“True, but Craig’s proven he’s a good guy… Kind of like what you did for me.” He smile slowly changed from sad to happy, if only just a little. “Never knew a Grimm could be so nice to us wesen. Want your first free coffee?”

“That would be nice. Make it to go,” said Robert. “Also, it’s sacrilege, but you might want to consider making it decaf just so I can go to sleep when I get home…”

“… Robert, it’s almost seven in the morning.”

“I haven’t had a chance to sleep between going to that show and getting questioned by the police,” muttered Robert. “As soon as I’m home, I’m sleeping.”

“Fair enough.” Mat went to make Robert his coffee.

Unfortunately this meant leaving Robert alone with his thoughts. Thoughts that were constantly drifting towards the car accident. It was bloody and horrible, but Robert couldn’t do anything. Innocent people were always going to get caught in the crossfire when wesen were concerned

Robert was ashamed to admit it, but he wasn’t always able to fix a wesen problem in time. Doing his odd jobs back in Boston he was used to arriving just one second too late or slipping up in some way, only to find dead humans and wesen strewn about the place. A few times he’d even let his rage get the better of him and start swinging indiscriminately at whoever he pleased. 

Those times were at their worst just after his wife had passed away. He just didn’t care about anything anymore. He had felt hollow and empty. Like nothing mattered. Not being a Grimm. Not Val. Not anyone or anything. He wondered when his attitude started to change enough for him to actually give a damn about anything again. When he moved to Maple Bay? When he met Mary again? He didn’t know.

Suddenly the chair opposite him scraped across the ground as a young teen in pink overalls sat across from him. Robert recognised her as Mat’s kid, though he had no idea what her name was, if it had been mentioned to him at all that was.

She stared at him quizzically for a moment before she woged into her more rat-like form. She looked very surprised when she saw that Robert was a Grimm, but she smiled at him anyway. “So you really are a Grimm? That’s so cool,” she said. “My dad said you were one, but I wasn’t too sure I believed him. I’m Carmensita.”

“… You aren’t scared of me?” This girl had moxy. He liked it.

Carmensita grinned at him. “Why would I be scared? People are only scared when they are ignorant about things. Snakes are scary, but if you leave them alone and don’t step on them they don’t bother no one. I recon it’s the same with Grimms.”

“So you’re not ignorant about Grimms then?”

She shrugged. “I know as much about Grimms as the stories and legends tell us wesen. Some of the stories are pretty icky, but in most stories Grimms are killing asshole wesen. So there has to be some amount of good in you, right?”

He chuckled a little. “I guess… So why is a kid up this early? Isn’t it Saturday?”

“Yep, but dad makes way too much noise when he’s walking around the kitchen in the morning. I’m cursed to wake up early forever.”

“Sucks to be you.”

Mat walked over and gave Robert his coffee. “Sita, what are you doing here? Gonna try and sneak into the back room and steal some muffins?”

“Liberate dad,” said Carmensita. “I was going to liberate them.”

Sensing some rather personal father daughter bonding time, Robert quickly took his coffee and left The Coffee Spoon. It just felt weird to him to see any dad getting along well with their child, especially when said child was a daughter. He was pretty sure this was just because his own relationship with Val was so awful. Jealous was an ugly colour on Grimms, and especially Robert.

“…” He took the plunge. He picked up his phone and called Val. “…” Straight to voice mail. Robert couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. Seemed like the world was always trying to make sure he was alone in one way or the other.


	18. A father's worries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I tried to go for some more obscure verses at the start. Not sure which versions they are from, like if they are all King James versions or Common English version, or a mix of a bunch of different sources.

Robert sighed a little as he leaned against the railing on the bridge. The night air was cold against his skin. He didn’t like it. His nose and lips were starting to go numb. Even standing in the headlights of his truck couldn’t fool his body into feeling a little warmer. He took his flask out of his pocket and quickly drank a mouthful of whisky. He would need to fill it up again soon.

He started to pace around in an attempt to keep his blood flowing. “For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good.” He muttered. “But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Romans thirteen verse four…” 

Robert looked around, slightly annoyed that there was no one around. He rubbed his hands together in an attempt to get some feeling back in them. His fingertips were turning a nasty shade of red. He had considered wearing gloves, but then he wouldn’t have a good grip on his machete.

“… But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile him.” Said Robert a little louder than before. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts-murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. Matthew fifteen verse eighteen to nineteen.”

This was starting to get annoying. Robert felt like a damn crazy street preacher, spouting about the end of the world to all who would listen to him. Needless to say he was not having too much fun spouting bible verses out into the night, but it had to be done. 

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subjected to judgment.” Robert had given up and just decided to go full on evangelical. “Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift in front of the altar First go and be reconciled to the; then come and offer your gift. Matthew five verse twenty one to twenty four…”

Hearing nothing but silence, Robert felt stupid. Perhaps he was wrong and this bridge was not the bridge he was thinking about? Maybe he had the wrong wesen entirely? That couldn’t have been the case, he had good sources on this one. Though it was likely this wesen had gone and moved onto another bridge. There was only one way to make sure. He needed to grab his megaphone and turn his crazy street preacher spiel into full on insane evangelical mega church preacher.

Robert was a few feet away from his truck door when he heard something heavy pull itself onto the bridge with a thud. Turning around, Robert was face to face with a huge lumbering troll. What else could he call this wesen? It was ugly as sin and lived under bridges.

“Grimm…” It growled.

Robert smirked at it, cocky as ever. “Look here ugly I have a bone to pick with you. Are you the piece of shit troll that’s been beating up and murdering all those wesen beaver people because they refuse to pay you?”

“All bridges belong to us.” It growled. “They needed to learn their place.”

“Hmm? What was that?” Asked Robert. “Couldn’t hear what you said because of all this bullshit was coming out of your mouth. This is a public bridge shit head. You own this bridge as much as I’m the front man for AC/DC.”

The troll launched themselves at Robert, easily grabbing the front of his jacket and throwing him down. That had both caught Robert off guard and winded him. So he grabbed his machete and stabbed the bastard in the foot.

“Fuck you!” He snarled at the troll.

The troll kicked the machete out of his foot like it was nothing and picked Robert up again, this time throwing him onto the hood of his truck. Robert hit it with enough force to dent the hood and crack the windscreen. He groaned as he slowly slid off onto the ground.

“You know you’re going to pay for that, right?” Robert asked the troll in an overly cocky manner. “I don’t think I have fuck ugly troll insurance.” The troll snarled at him and marched over. It was about that time when Robert realised that the troll was wearing a rather bulky pair of steel capped boots. “… Oh fuck…”

***

“-And then I died. The end.” Robert leaned back on the small stone bench, almost falling off it. At the moment he had been trying to keep the promise he had made to Damien about trying to talk to Lucien about what he had been through. Somehow it devolved into Robert going into a detailed account about how a Troll almost killed him when he was twenty, and on one of his first solo hunts.

Lucien rolled his eyes. “Um, Yeah. I call bullshit on that. You’re still alive.”

“Or am I?” Asked Robert with a smirk. Lucien didn’t seem to appreciate his sense of humour. “Fine, I rolled out of the way and the troll bastard kicked the front of my truck and got his foot stuck. It was just enough time for me to grab my UV flood light from my truck and blast the fucker. He turned to stone in seconds and I just had to hit him with a hammer.”

“… So can you kill any troll with a UV light?”

Robert shook his head. “Nah, trolls are very different from region to region. This guy was Norwegian. Norwegian trolls can’t woge in the daylight or they turn to stone. For some reason they are also attracted to people preaching and religious people in general.”

“Huh…”

He shrugged. “Hey, I don’t make up the rules. I just work with the information I’m given… It fucked me up for a little while. First time I almost died with no backup to bail me out. You know what my pappy said when I told him I was having dreams about getting my face kicked in?”

“… What?”

“He told me to suck it up and stop acting like a princess,” said Robert. “He said being a Grimm was fucking tough and no one was going to hold my hand through it. PTSD wasn’t really a thing people knew too much about back in my day, and if anyone was affected by it the family would usually never talk about it. Would have talked to someone about it if I could have back then.”

Lucien rolled his eyes a little at that statement. “Yeah whatever… Look if my dad is that fucking worried about my mental health that he’d make you talk to me I’ll see a therapist.”

Robert shrugged. “He’s just really worried about you. You went through some fucked up shit. I’d be worried about you too if you were my kid.”

The teen frowned a little and looked out across the garden. There were a fair few bees out this time of the day. “… You going to teach me how to fight or not?”

“… I will teach you the only two bits of hand to hand combat you will ever need to know. Everything else you’re good with biting, scratching, and screaming at.” He held up his hand and pointed to his thumb. “You see this? You grab this and yank it back. You don’t stop pulling till the tip of the thumb touches their wrist.”

Lucien blinked in surprise. “That seems excessive.”

“Can’t get a good grip on you if your thumbs are all fucked up,” said Robert. “Plus it helps if you get sexually assaulted, because they can argue you wanted it all they like, but in the end it’s pretty hard for a consenting person to try and rip your fucking thumb off if they are in fact consenting to it.”

“Touché.” 

“Second bit of hand to hand combat advice; everyone will keel over and puke their guts if you kick them in the genitals hard enough.”

“… Even girls?”

“Especially girls.” Robert wondered if Lucien paid attention in sex education at all. Heck, he wondered if his school even had a sex education program or if the idiots running the PTA lost their shit and got that rather vital program cut. “Granted it’s harder because the target area’s usually smaller than your pinkie nail, and it has to be at just the right angle… But I have cunt punted a hexenbiest once and she passed out so... Make of that what you will.”

“… Right.”

The back door opened and Damien ventured out towards them with a tea tray in hand. “Are you two getting along?” He offered tea to both of them.

“Like a house on fire Dames.” Robert took the tea offered to him and sipped. Yeah, he had no idea what kind of tea this was. “Just retelling the time I almost got killed by a troll.”

“That sounds… riveting.” Damien placed the tea set down and sat. “You weren’t hurt too badly were you?”

Robert shrugged. “A few cracked ribs and the usual cuts and bruises. Nothing to write home about.”

Lucien grunted in agreement and drank his tea, cringing a little at the flavour. “Really dad? Isn’t this the stuff you usual drink when you’re trying to go to sleep?”

The older wesen smiled sheepishly. “While that is true, I thought it might do you a world of good if you were to have a nap sometime in the afternoon since you seem to have developed the inability to sleep as of late. One can only use so much foundation to try and erase the black bags under their eyes.”

“Whatever…” Lucien quickly finished his cup. “I have homework to do…” The teen quickly retreated back into the house, slamming the door a little harder than he probably intended to.

Damien sighed sadly. “It appears I have over stepped my boundaries once again… Was he able to open up to you?”

Robert shrugged. “I guess? It’s hard to tell with teenagers. But I think I convinced him to at least see a therapist once. So that’s something.”

“Thank you,” said Damien quietly. “With everything that has happened to him lately I just… I worry a lot about Lucien. With the secretive way he has been acting as of late, I’ve been worried he’s experiencing the Umkippen.”

Robert was just learning something new every day just by hanging around the local wesen. “The Umkippen?”

“When one woges too often their wesen side will eventually start to take over, the Umkippen,” said Damien. “It can be very dangerous, even a normal woge elicits a heavy range of emotions. Not all of which are pleasant. Perhaps you would use the term feral or wild to describe it?”

Robert had to agree with him on that one. He himself had encountered what he could only describe as feral wesen a few times in his life. They were like raging beasts that only lived to satisfy their primal urges of food and shelter. He’d be lying if he said he had happened upon more than one feral wesen feeding and wasn’t completely disturbed by what he saw. Some feral wesen still had enough sense to feed on small animals, others went for more human targets.

“… Yeah, feral is what I’d call it.” He glanced over at Damien’s house. “Mind if I ask, what would happen if Lucien did experience this… Unkippen?”

Damien frowned a little, obviously not pleased to be thinking about it. “Well, Murciélago are not the most naturally calm and meek at the best of times… I would imagine he would start lashing out at anyone and everyone. Probably start randomly killing small animals and eating them too. One does lose all humanity if they are in fact experiencing the Unkippen.”

“And you think Lucien might be going through this?”

“I surely hope not, but I worry… He obviously has not been sleeping but I really don’t want to doubt him.” Damien drank some tea as he tried to calm himself. “He is a young man and as such I need to give him the space to make his own decisions, but I worry so much… If he isn’t experiencing the Unkippen then he might be going out and doing less than legal things… Or maybe he has a girlfriend and he’s worried I won’t approve of her?”

Robert shrugged. “As long as they wrap it up I wouldn’t worry.”

“… You think Lucien has gotten his girlfriend pregnant?” Damien looked completely mortified at the thought. “He’s much too young to be a father… And the poor girl, what if she gets kicked out of home? What if she isn’t wesen at all? The child of a wesen and human… The results tend to be quite disturbing for all parties involved.”

“… Well I’m sure Lucien’s smart enough not to knock up his girlfriend, if he has one. We don’t know if he’s seeing anyone. Strong possibility he’s not.”

“Yes quite…” Damien still looked very worried.

“You’re probably over thinking things Dames. Things will be fine.”

“I guess… Thank you once again for speaking with him. I appreciate all that you’ve done. You’ve gone above and beyond.”

Robert smiled a little. It was nice to hear someone say that and actually mean it once in a while. “Think nothing of it. Gotta try and change the Grimm reputation somehow, right?” 

Damien smiled a little. “You’ve done more than enough to change my mind about Grimms… And now I find myself with far more questions about your kind than I ever have before. Like when do you know you’re a Grimm? Is it similar to wesen children when they go through puberty?”

Robert chuckled a little. “Hate to burst your bubble, but it’s just random. Rule of thumb, if you’re a girl you develop it earlier than boys. Some get their Grimm abilities when they’re way older, like late twenties, mid-thirties. Still have no idea why. I got my Grimm abilities when I was… Ten? Pappy told me that my great, great aunt Benedetta was born with her Grimm sight. Not sure that’s actually true.”

“… Were you scared when you saw your first wesen?”

“Damn right I was,” said Robert. He was just a kid in the local playground when he saw his first wesen. It was a hexienbiest. When a hexenbiest wasn’t in her wesen form she generally looked rather beautiful. However when she woged she looked like a walking corpse; her skin decayed, teeth sharpened, she lost her lips, and her eyes went blood red but they still looked withered, like rotting fruit. “Had nightmares about it for weeks.”

Damien nodded a little. “I’m guessing you didn’t see a friendly looking one?”

“Nope.”

Damien nodded a little. “I see… Many of us do look rather unfriendly to normal humans.”

“Good thing I’m not a normal human.”

“Indeed.” He paused for a moment. “Robert, I have been pondering this for a while, since you have been more than kind to me and my son, perhaps you would like to-”

Suddenly Robert’s phone went off. “Hold on one second.”

“Go ahead.”

Robert nodded and quickly checked his caller ID. To his surprise the caller ID said it was unknown. He was rather suspicious of this and walked over to the other side of the garden to answer it. “Hello?”

“Glad to hear you pick up. It’s detective Graves.”

Now this was a surprise. “… How did you get my number? Pretty sure whatever you did to get it was illegal somehow.”

“Robert, let’s not go into legality here. I’m asking you if you’d like to help me out. Do you hang out in the woods around Maple Bay?”

“… Why?”

“I want your opinion on something. Can you take a drive down Orchid road? You’ll know where I am when you see the police cars.”

Robert had to admit, he was very curious now. “Alright, you got me interested Graves. Did someone die?”

“Just get over here Grimm.”

Robert frowned at his phone and hung up. If Saul was going to be a dick about him being a Grimm, Robert was going to have to consider moving again. He did not like people using him. More powerful wesen had tried in the past, but it all ended the same way; them dead and Robert cleaning the blood off one of his many knifes. If Saul was going to bark orders at him, Robert was more than happy to end their acquaintance as violently as possible.

He walked back over to Damien, trying not to let his foul mood show too much. “I need to get going. Got a Grimm thing to do.”

“Oh… Well take care. Don’t put yourself in needless danger.”

Robert chuckled. “Never do Dames. But what were you gonna say?”

Damien smiled politely and shook his head. “Think nothing of it. What I had to say was unimportant and irrelevant. Do not trouble yourself.”

“… If you’re sure. Later Dames.” He quickly left Damien’s home and headed to his truck. Time to see what Saul wanted.


	19. Orchid Road

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another day another chapter. Hope you all enjoy it.

Robert’s drive down Orchid road was relatively uneventful. The idyllic road ran alongside a nature reserve and was lined on both sides with trees and shrubs. Robert pulled over when he saw the police cars. He got out and walked towards the crime scene, quickly getting stopped by a female officer. “Sir, please go back to your car.”

“Detective Graves called me here,” said Robert. “Still not sure why I’m here.”

“What’s your name?”

“Daniel McSturgiss.” 

“… Right.” She looked over her shoulder and called out. “Hey Graves! Your beast expert is here!”

Robert frowned a little at that title. “Beast expert?”

Saul walked over to Robert. “Glad you could make it. Almost didn’t expect you to show up.” He waved Robert over and the officer let Robert pass.

Robert had a bad feeling about all this. “Look here Saul, I have no idea if you’re going to hold the geier thing over my head because you’re a cop, but I must warn you one of my favourite meats is pork. Also heard through the grapevine that bauerschwine meat is very tasty.”

Saul glared at him, clearly not appreciating the threat. “I have no intention of blackmailing you. I just wanted to see what you thought about this.” He gestured towards a small dip off the side of the road where many crime scene investigators were taking photos and samples.

Looking down at what they were investigating made Robert’s stomach turn in disgust. There were five, maybe six animal carcasses all ripped open with their guts strewn around in an almost playful manner. Many of the trees surrounding the remains had several deep cuts and claw marks ripped into the bark. It was pretty messed up to say the least.

“… And this isn’t a bear attack because?” Asked Robert.

Saul walked over to a box where they were collecting evidence and pulled out a rather large clear bag containing a bloody child sized softball cap. “If this was a bear we would have found some evidence of a kid. Maybe this cap means nothing, maybe it fell out of a car. Who knows? But the sheer amount of carnage in a spot so close to the road does lead me to believe this wasn’t an animal out hunting… At least not a normal one. What do you make of it?”

“…” Robert walked back over to the crime scene and had a closer look at the claw marks on the trees. Some were made by something big, others were made by something small, that much was obvious. Looking at whatever animal remains he could it was easy enough for Robert to see that whatever had killed them were more interested in killing than eating what they caught. Assuming it was wesen related, he wasn’t worried.

“What do you see?” Asked Saul.

“Nothing you probably haven’t already figured out,” muttered Robert. “If this is some kind of test you’re putting me through it’s a boring one.”

“Then solve it,” said Saul in an almost daring way.

Damn, Robert found this man annoying. He walked a bit away from everyone to make sure no one would over hear them. “If this is wesen you have nothing to worry about. It’s just some family bonding. Some predator wesen’s kid probably just started to woge and they were just showing them how to hunt. Kid probably went a little over board with their first hunt. It’s so close to the road because their car was parked near them. That’s all.”

Saul didn’t seem impressed. “Anyone with a general understanding of wesen’s could figure that out. I want to know what kind of wesen did that; coyotal, gelumcadus, manticore, mauvais dentes, blutbad… I need to know what dangerous wesen are living in Maple Bay.”

“… Coyotal’s are kind of just assholes, and they tend to hunt in large packs. This is way too small for them.” Robert thought a little harder. “Gelumcadus are ambush predators and swallow chunks like actual gators. There’s way too much meat left. Manticore would actually go hunting with guns or stab their pray with their tails. Mauvais dentes drag their food into trees… Might be a blutbad or some other wolf-like wesen.”

Saul looked disgusted. “Better not be a blutbad. Those things just love to cause trouble for everyone.”

Robert never really understood the feud between bauerschwein and blutbads. Sure blutbads were known to eat bauerschwein like pork rinds. But he was pretty sure that all of that was pretty much ancient history. Blutbad’s didn’t go out and actively hunt down other wesen. Hell, predator wesen didn’t actively hunt and kill other wesen in general. 

“Whatever,” he muttered. “Can I go now Graves? This is boring me.”

Saul gave Robert a questioning look. “Oh really? Is it not fun for you unless someone’s life is on the line?” He pointed back over to the crime scene. “That is too brutal. Whatever wesen did that didn’t eat everything. They played with the guts of their kills. What happens when they get tired of animals and go after humans? Will you go after them then?”

“…” Robert didn’t like being emotionally manipulated like that. “What do you want me to?”

“Be a Grimm,” said Saul. “Find out what wesen have gone out and made this mess… We found some long hairs on that softball cap. Might belong to one of the girls on the local softball team? Maple Bay Flapjacks I believe? It would be in your best interest to figure this out soon.”

“Sounds like a bit of a jump…” Robert glared at him. “So how long are you going to blackmail me?”

The detective thought for a moment. “Well nine geier got killed… So, excluding this one, eight more times.”

“Eight?”

“I’m being nice and counting the musai as one of the nine times I’m going to get your help.”

“… You’re a real piece of work Saul Graves.” Robert got right up in his face. “You better hope you call in these wesen favours real bloody soon. I’m not the kind of guy that likes getting cornered. Especially by a wesen like you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Saul didn’t look too pleased to get threatened either. “Just remember, I’m not just willing to take you down for murder. I have DNA samples of at least three other people. One of which was a familial match. Now the labs might think the samples were corrupted or inconclusive because they had fox and bat DNA mixed in with it, but we both know that’s a damn lie. You want these people to go down with you?”

“… I fucking hate you Graves.” Robert pushed past the detective, making damn sure he forcefully shoulder barged him as he did so.

The man just chuckled. “I’ll be keeping in touch.”

***

Robert was furious. Hell he was more than furious. The animal attack wasn’t anything special. As far as he was concerned it was just some innocent family bonding. Granted it was bloodier than most people would approve of, but there were far worse things. Most predatory wesen just enjoyed hunting down small animals as much as the big things. 

Heck, most predatory wesen considered hunting down anything larger than a dear completely barbaric and downright archaic; a practice only done by the mentally unstable or desperate. This was not something Robert wanted to deal with. He had a hard stance when it came to this kind of thing within the wesen community.

He didn’t even know where to start looking for predator wesen that would go on family hunts. Of course there was Mary, being a fuchsbau, but her kids were years away from being able to woge. There was no way in hell Damien would ever take Lucien out hunting since Damien hated blood and they were both vegetarians. That only left Craig, being the only blutbad he knew with two kids around the right age.

Robert had no idea how to approach this either. He didn’t like the idea of just going up to him and asking if his kids were the ones hunting small animals. Mainly because if that was true then Craig and Saul were probably going to get into a fight of some sort. Robert really didn’t want to deal with that. Fights between different wesen were always the worst.

He had pulled into the parking lot of what he assumed was the baseball park and wondered how he was going to figure out if a girl lost her softball cap. Whichever way he thought about it there was no situation where he didn’t look like a possible paedophile. Trying to investigate anything to do with women or kids always seemed to immediately throw him into the stalker/creep category. 

Robert groaned in frustration and rested his forehead against the steering wheel. Perhaps things would be easier if he just killed Saul? Actually things would be a heck of a lot easier if he offed Saul, but hiding the body wasn’t going to be fun. Saul wasn’t particularly skinny or small so the old tried and true method of stuffing him barrel of concrete wouldn’t work out too well.

He continued to contemplate ways of possibly ending Saul when out of nowhere a softball crashed onto the hood of his truck, leaving a sizable dent. He swore a little and got out to inspect the damage. He realized there was a possibility that his truck was going to get hit, but this was just ridiculous. He picked up the offending ball and glared at it.

“Robert, bro!” Called the familiar voice of Craig Cahn. He jogged over to Robert with River strapped to his chest, happily gurgling and babbling away as babies do. “Did you happen to see a softball anywhere? I think I saw it fly this way.”

Unamused, Robert held up the ball. “You dented my truck.”

“… Sorry bro.” Craig looked at Robert’s truck and frowned a little. “Um… Which dent did I make bro?”

Okay, Robert’s truck was pretty beat up and terrible. It had more dents in it than he could count, but it was his truck damn it. “Ha, ha. Very funny.” He looked over at some young girls in uniforms all standing around a softball field doing drills. “… Your girls do softball?”

Craig grinned. “Yeah bro. Brian and Hazel are pretty good at it too. Little bros are amazing at field… But they kind of got to work on their pitching a little. Poor bros, they hold onto the ball for too long and it just slams into the ground in front of them.”

“You their coach or something?”

“Yeah.” Weather he intended to or not, Craig puffed his chest out a little bit with pride. “I’m the coach to the Maple Bay flapjacks.”

River gurgled with excitement and made grabby hands at Robert. “Agawa! Agawa! Abawawa!”

Robert looked at the small child in confusion. “… I don’t speak baby.”

“I think she wants the ball back bro.”

“Probably.” 

He gave the ball back to Craig who then held it in front of River’s face. Despite her best efforts Craig was holding the ball just far enough away from her so she couldn’t attempt to shove it in her mouth. However she could still try and grab it with her tiny baby hands.

While Craig was momentarily distracted by River, Robert decided to quickly interrogate him about the dead animals. “So Craig, you ever go running near Orchid road?”

“Huh? Sometimes, there are a few good trails near there. Why do you ask bro?”

“Were you doing a night run there in the past few days?”

“… Bro, are you interrogating me?”

Robert had to give Craig some credit for that. He might have talked like a dumb frat boy jock but he quickly saw through him. Either that or Robert really needed to review his method. “Fine, I’ll cut to the chase. You’re a blutbad. You kids are blutbad. I found a lot of dead animals and a child’s softball cap with the bloody mess.”

Craig looked shocked. “Bro, just because I’m a blutbad doesn’t mean that I’m going out and eating the softball team. I’ve never even eaten human flesh before, and none of my girls have either.”

“Whoa, never said you did Craig,” said Robert. “I was just thinking some predator wesen was taking their kid or kids out for a hunt. Thought it might be someone on the softball team since it was a child’s hat there was no child’s body found… Any other wesen on the team?”

“Not that I know of bro, and my girls haven’t woged yet,” said Craig. He looked down at River and gently patted her head. “They’re still way too young to do that… They’re still just little girls bro, you know?”

“Aren’t your twins almost teenagers?”

Craig sighed sadly. “Don’t remind me bro… In just a few years I’m gonna go from cool sports dad to dorky sports dad… At least I still have River.” The baby squealed in delight, still trying to eat the softball.

“That’s what kids do. They grow up and push the boundaries, break the rules, rebel. All part of growing up.”

“Yeah… Well um, gotta get back to the girls bro. Thanks for finding the ball.” He was about to leave when he paused for a moment. “… Um, sorry about before. The whole wanting to kill you thing. You seem decent enough bro. I was just thinking about my kids.”

Robert shrugged. “Hey, I’m not going to judge you. Just glad you didn’t claw out my throat out. Mary would have gotten real pissed if I bled all over her carpet.”

Craig chuckled a little. “Alright bro. Catch you later. I’ll try not to aim for the car park again.” He quickly jogged back over to the girls.

Robert sighed a little and rubbed his temples. Since it wasn’t Craig and his kids there was some other wesen running around with their kid. He had no idea who they were or how he was going to track them down. Heck, he didn’t even know how old the kill was. They could have even just been passing through Maple Bay. Everything sucked.


	20. Puberty bluze

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, this fic is getting pretty damn long, however I have no plans on shortening it any time soon. I have at least five more mini story arcs that I want to get through before I even think about wrapping this up. Mwahahahahahahaha.
> 
> Enjoy!

Briar and Hazel were well aware of their wesen heritage. They could still remember their mum or dad trying to cheer them up when they were sad by woging and letting them pat them like they were just really big dogs. Other times they would woge and spin them around till they got dizzy. Even now their parents would still attempt to cheer them up and make them smile by woging for them.

However the girls were quickly finding that even though it made them smile from time to time, it started to seem silly to them. River still enjoyed it, but she was still a baby. Their mum, Ashley, noticed this mild change in the girl’s behaviour first. She had let it go, but after the girls had spent the weekend with her and they kept complaining about the way Craig was treating them she had to sit down with them and have a serious talk.

“I know your dad can be very in your face about things but seriously, what about him is bothering you two so much?”

Hazel had rolled her eyes and slumped into the couch. “He treats us like we’re babies. It’s so annoying…”

“Yeah,” agreed Briar. “We have a hard enough time getting permission from him to go to the park by ourselves… We’re almost teens. Let us be us.”

“And lord forbid if we want to go to the movies with our friends afterschool and don’t tell him…” muttered Hazel. Both of the girls sighed dramatically. “… What’s dad gonna do when we get our periods?”

Briar cringed. “Ew, Hazel. I don’t want to think about that… But he’d probably freak out more than us.”

Ashley laughed at the thought and couldn’t help but agree with Briar. “Yeah, your dad still thinks of you as his precious baby girls. He’s going to want to treat you two as such for as long as possible,” she sighed a little. “Poor guy is going to totally freak when you two start to woge too…”

“When do we start to woge?” Briar had asked.

Ashley had just shrugged. “It all depends. Girls usually mature a little faster than boys do. Guess it all has to do with your hormones and stuff.”

Hazel groaned in frustration at that. “Seriously? We’re gonna get a double dose of pain because we’re girls? Why?”

“Sorry girls. I didn’t make the rules.” Ashley playfully ruffled her girl’s hair and grinned at them. “Look, I’ll talk to your dad about loosening his grip of the leash a little. The man has to realise his little girls are gonna turn into little ladies real soon… and he better stock up on pads and learn how to get period blood out of underwear.”

The girls cringed and whined at the thought of their dad having to deal with that. Heck, neither of them wanted to deal with something like that. Dealing with their bodies changing and bleeding against their own will was a horrific enough to think about without imagining the horror that would wash over their dad’s face if he ever saw their bloody underwear.

Ashley laughed it off and that conversation was quickly forgotten and replaced with watching Real Shark Hunters of Orange County. However, later that night, Ashley had woken up in a state of panic when she heard horrid howls and the distinct stench of coppery blood for her girl’s room. She had woged and practically ripped off their bedroom door.

The poor girls were curled up on their bed, clutching their stomachs as blood stained their sheets. They hadn’t woged just yet but had been thrown into the deep end of puberty. She gave them painkillers and sent them off to clean themselves up while she had cleaned their bed sheets and clothes. 

There was lots of crying and begging from the girls. They didn’t want their dad to find out about this, not just yet. Neither of them knew how to deal with this abrupt change and they couldn’t tell him just yet. Ashley agreed with them, but made them promise to tell their father in a month. Because by then, they would unfortunately be experiencing their second period and Craig would need to get them more pads.

This was not the end of their troubles either. When Ashley had driven her girls back to Craig’s house the two girls had let out an unbearable wailing noise and forced Ashley to pull over on Orchid road. Briar and Hazel had immediately leapt out and run off into the night.

Ashley had sworn loudly and quickly ran after the two girls after pulling River out of her car seat and trying to comfort her. It was relatively easy to find Briar and Hazel. They were attempting to dig a rabbit out of its burrow in full woge. It was a surreal experience but she managed to calm them both down and get them back to the car where they could sit and talk.

Once again Ashley kept their little secret with the provision they would tell Craig very soon. The girls were scared at how their dad would react, but agreed with their mum. No matter how awkward it was it had to be done.

***

Even after almost two weeks neither Briar nor Hazel could bring themselves to tell their dad the truth. So instead they would sneak out to the woods behind the park at night and attempt to get some semblance of control over themselves.

It was quite a difficult thing for them to do. Hazel had developed a very unhealthy obsession with trying to mark every tree she came across with her sweat when woged, and Briar insisted on growling and barking at everything that moved.

Briar groaned in frustration as she crouched down and started to dig at the ground. “We’re not getting better at this.”

“Speak for yourself,” muttered Hazel as she rubbed her sweaty palm over a tree trunk. “My tree. I think I’ve gotten a little better at this scent marking thing… But it would be a lot easier if I had a gallon bottle of water and a dick. Boy blutbad’s have it easy when it comes to scent marking.”

“Hazel, we really need to tell dad. He’s gonna find out sooner or later…” 

“Do we have to?” She whined. “… Also what the heck are you digging up?”

“Yes we have to. Dad’s not dumb. He’s gonna be mad at us for keeping this from him, and I’m digging up something that smells kind of nice.”

Hazel walked over to her and sniffed near the ground. “… Maybe it’s a bone? With fresh bone marrow in it? If it is we’re splitting it. I want that cronch.”

Briar rolled her eyes and dug up something small and mouldy. It smelt nice and she wanted to rub her face on it, but her human side was telling her this was probably a very bad idea. She threw it away. “Fungus.”

“Ew… Like a mushroom?”

“Yep.”

“Eeeeeeeeeeew.”

Briar rolled her eyes and got up, dusting off her claws. “We should probably head back home soon… We have school tomorrow.”

Hazel whined but reluctantly agreed. “Fine. But I get the bathroom first. I got dirt all over my arms.”

Her sister would have pointed out that her hands are way dirtier than Hazel’s, but couldn’t be bothered arguing. “Whatever. Let’s just go.”

The sisters made their way back home, using the scent trail Hazel had obsessively left as their main guide. Their senses were heightened significantly in their wesen state, but they didn’t exactly have perfect night vision. Suddenly Briar stopped and slammed her arm against her sister’s chest, almost winding her.

“What the heck Briar?”

Briar held her finger up to her lips. “Can’t you smell that? Someone else is here…” There was a strange scent filtering through the air. It smelt floral but undeniably musky. Was floral musk even a thing? Either way the girls couldn’t tell if it was friend or foe.

Suddenly Hazel pointed up. “There. In the trees.”

Looking up, Briar saw it too. There was someone sitting up in the higher branches. The hunched figure was wearing a dark hoodie that was pulled up over their head so it was impossible for them to tell if this person was male or female. Either way Briar couldn’t stop the malicious snarl clawing its way out of her throat.

“Hey!” She snapped. “Who the heck are you?! What are you doing here?! This is our territory!”

“Technically mine!” Corrected Hazel. “I was the one marking everything!”

The yelling startled the figure and they stared down at them for what seemed like forever before they climbed down, sitting on the lowest branch. They pulled down their hood and the girls were both surprised and relieved to see that it was Lucien.

“What are you two doing out here?” He asked. “Isn’t it time for all the pups to be in bed?”

“Well shouldn’t you be in bed?” Snapped Hazel.

“I’m a bat,” said Lucien. “I’m nocturnal.” 

Briar frowned at his statement. “… Bat wesen aren’t nocturnal.”

Lucien rolled his eyes. “Fine. I have insomnia and would rather not stay couped up in my room all night. But what’s your excuse? Where’s your dad? He taking you two on some hunt? How long have you two been able to woge?”

The twins looked awkwardly at each other, sharing a concerned look. Hazel was the one to tell him. “Dad doesn’t know we’ve woged yet… We just don’t know how to tell him…”

The older teen seemed surprised by that. “Really? I would have thought he’d be happy you two were able to woge?”

“We can’t really control our impulses!” Blurted Hazel. “Briar growls at everything when woged and I have to scent mark everything! Dad’s gonna freak! He still thinks of us as babies anyway!”

Lucien shrugged. “Well, you two can’t stay kids forever. He’s just gonna have to get used to you two growing up. He’ll have to accept it when you two start growing tits and attracting boys. He might even go full protective dad mode and start trying to emasculate or threaten them. As one does.”

The twins groaned in exaggerated agony. They hadn’t even thought that far ahead. “Puberty sucks!” Whined Briar. “Take it back!”

“It sure does kid,” agreed Lucien.

“Shut up.” Whined Hazel. “You’re not forced to bleed for a full week once a month.”

Lucien was quickly regretting his life choices. “… Okay, I did not need to hear that part. But you two really should tell your dad you’ve started to woge. Who else is gonna teach you how to be a blutbad? Your mum? You don’t see her as often as your dad. You have to tell him.”

Briar was still very unsure. “I don’t know… Is it really a good idea?”

“Trust me, you’ll be worse off if you don’t.” Lucien slid off the branch and landed silently on the ground. “Come on you two. I’ll walk you home. You two might want to woge back.”

The girls reluctantly followed the older boy back to the cul-de-sac and back to their house. Both were a little surprised that Lucien had walked them to the front door. Then again his dad had always flaunted his gentlemanly qualities. Perhaps some of his more respectable qualities had rubbed off on Lucien?

Lucien knocked on the door and seconds later Craig was there looking kind of confused. “Bro? What are you doing out so late?” He then noticed his girls standing behind him. “Brier? Hazel? What are you doing out so late? Why are you so dirty?”

Brier looked nervously at her sister. “Um well…”

Lucien quickly cut her off. “My fault. I was talking with Ernest about some dumb thing a friend of a friend of mine told me about… I don’t remember what it was exactly, but don’t punish them too badly.”

“… Alright bro. Girls, inside.” Craig did not seem too happy.

Brier and Hazel quickly went inside and sat on the couch. They had to talk to their dad about this now. He was going to be disappointed with them sneaking out, but he might be able to look past what they had done when they told him the truth. However they were unsure.

Craig stood in front of them and frowned. He looked very disappointed in them. “Girls, I thought you two were in bed an hour ago. Why were you out so late? Was it really like what Lucien said?”

Hazel made a small distressed noise. “We’ve started on our period!”

Briar face palmed. That was arguably the least important thing to talk about at the moment. She wondered how her twin could say such stupid things at times.

Craig looked absolutely mortified and he started to panic. “Right! I got this! I prepared for this day!” He quickly ran off and came back with a pack of pads. “Alright, you need to go and shower and put this in your underwear. It looks pretty straight forward and stuff bros, but um, if you need any help with it I guess…?”

Briar couldn’t take her dad’s fumbling anymore. “No dad! Stop! We finished that up a few days ago… It started when we were with mum.”

“Oh…” He frowned a little. “But why didn’t Ashley tell me?”

“Because it’s embarrassing!” Whined Hazel. “And you treat us like babies all the time! We’re like, officially teenagers now dad!”

Briar sighed a little. “We made mum promise not to tell you till we were ready to tell you all the things…”

Craig crossed his arms. “All the things?” The girls were nervous, but reluctantly they woged. They weren’t able to look their dad in the eye, but they could tell he was at least shocked. “Girls…” His voice wavered a little before he too woged and pulled them both into a hug. “Did you really feel like you had to hide this from me? Bros, I’m your dad. You have no idea how happy this makes me. Just look at you two. You’re both two beautiful blutbads.” He moved back a little and grinned at them, unable to stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks.

“Don’t cry dad,” muttered Hazel. “This is why we didn’t want to tell you… You get all mushy.”

He laughed a little and rubbed the tears from his eyes. “Sorry Hazel… I can’t help it. My little girls are little ladies now and I just… I’m not ready for you two to grow up. You’ve both grown up way too fast! When did you woge? I can’t believe I wasn’t there for you when it happened…”

“Mum was driving us home,” said Briar. “We kind of freaked out and when mum pulled over we ran off into the forest and um…”

“We killed a bunch of small things,” said Hazel. “No one warned us that we’d have this instant blood lust the second we woged… Oh and Briar lost her hat.”

Briar pouted. “Hey! You said you wouldn’t tell him!”

Craig sighed. “Your mum and I agreed that she would have all the hard female body talks with you two and I’d do the whole blutbad stuff… I guess I should have done it a little earlier huh?”

Briar and Hazel nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”

Craig pulled them in for another hug, but quickly pulled back. “Wait a second bros… Where exactly did you kill these small animals?”

Hazel shrugged. “Some long stretch of road. You know the one that’s really long with hardly any bends?”

“… Orchid Road?” He asked.

Briar shrugged. “Probably. Why?”

Craig sighed heavily and woged back to normal. “After school tomorrow we’re going over to Mr Small’s and having a talk.”

“Isn’t he a Grimm?” Asked Hazel. “Didn’t you tell us to stay away from him?”

“Well I’m going to be with you so it’s different,” said Craig. He ruffled their hair and grinned at them. “Okay, you two get cleaned up and go to bed. I’ll organise a proper blutbad hunt for us real soon. Promise.”

The girls nodded and quickly made their way off to bed, but stayed long enough to see Craig take out his phone and call their mum. It was more than obvious that he didn’t like being kept out of the loop about this, and he needed to someone to listen to his rambles about his babies growing up.


	21. Lying to the cops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the lovely comments on the last chapter. It's always encouraging to hear people like your work. However ya'll need to get some sleep. Sleep is important peeps XD

Robert had to admit, he was a little more than surprised to see Craig and his girls at his doorstep in the late afternoon. He didn’t know if he should ask if they wanted to come inside or not. He wasn’t very good at these kinds of things. Luckily for him, Craig was more than happy to speak first.

“Bro! So you know how the other day you were asking me about the dead animals on Orchid road? Turns out it was my girls. They had their first woge when Smashly was bringing them home.”

“Who?”

“Um, Ashley, my ex…”

Hazel pouted a little and looked up at Robert. “So you’re a Grimm right? Does that mean you’re gonna try and kill us or something?”

Robert wished people weren’t like this. “No kid. I’m not gonna kill you for going after some wild animals. You go and kill a human on the other hand, and that’s a different story.”

Briar nodded. “Alright. No murder. Got it… Can we go home now dad? We have homework to do.”

Craig chuckled and patted his girl’s heads. “Alright little bros. You two go on home and do that.” The girls quickly left, leaving Robert, Craig, and the tiniest Cahn, River. “… So, you often drive along Orchid road bro?” 

“Not really. Why?”

“Bro, I gotta take the girls out for a proper blubad hunt,” said Craig like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I need to teach them how to hunt properly and safely bro. Can’t have them going wesen and raiding a chicken farm now can I? Actually I don’t think there’s a chicken farm in Maple Bay…”

Robert couldn’t help but crack a small smile. “I guess. So, you just letting me know in case I go walking in the woods and find a dead animal in the near future?”

“You know it bro.” Craig seemed to be very pleased with himself. “Alright, catch you later bro. If you ever need someone to track down something in the woods just give me a call. My sense of smell is like top ten in the wesen community.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Robert closed the door and went back to sitting on his couch to eat terrible leftover Indian food and watch old comedy shows that did not age well in the slightest. At the moment he was watching some old British show that’s whole gimmick was that two single girls were living with a single man in their apartment and all the nonsexual shenanigans that got up to while their prudish landlord constantly flipped shit assuming that they were doing it all over the place.

Betsy boofed softly at him as she climbed onto his lap and attempted to stick her head into the takeaway box. “Boof!”

Robert lifted it out of her reach and frowned. “Hey, this is way too spicy for you to handle girl. Your ass will burn like the fires of hell. Worse than when you ate all that cheese you greedy pig dog.”

“… Arf!” Betsy was not deterred by his warnings and seemed to double her efforts to get at his food.

After living with Betsy for so long Robert was a master at avoiding her jump attacks, it was practically second nature at this point. As he was multitasking anyway, Robert started to wonder what he was going to tell Saul when he called. He knew he was going to have to lie about some major details. There was no way in hell he could say that it was Craig or that it was a small pack of blutbad’s living in Maple Bay.

Bauerschwein were generally easy going wesen and don’t cause trouble, but when a blutbad was involved things could get pretty crazy. Being rather weak wesen they were constantly picked on by stronger wesen, blutbad’s being the worst. Blutbad’s were known to just straight up kill bauerschwein for fun, but in this day and age were all manner of murder was easy to obtain Robert could only imagine that many bauerschwein might try and off a blutbad or two. That was something Robert really wanted to avoid.

Almost as if Saul knew he was thinking about him, the bauerschwein called. Reluctantly, Robert answered. But not before waiting a good half a dozen rings before he did. “What do you want?”

“Hope I wasn’t interrupting anything important.”

“I was in the middle of jerking off to porn in my living room on my HDTV.” Said Robert. “One of the many perks to living alone.”

“… What?”

“I’m watching TV. What do you want Saul?”

The detective cleared his throat, obviously not used to Robert’s kind of humour. “Have you made any progress in finding out what wesen killed those animals?”

It was time for Robert to bullshit again, or at least practical bullshit. “Well I went for a walk near the area a few nights after you threatened me and it turns out it was just a blutbad and her kid doing some family bonding. Shit just got a little out of hand. Kid just got a little carried away.”

“Of course it was a damn blutbad…” muttered Saul. He sounded a lot more pissed off than he probably should have. “So did you catch their names or did you take care of them?”

“… Excuse me?” Asked Robert, kind of shocked to hear that question. “Are you asking me if I killed a woman and her child because they were wesen?”

“No, I’m asking because they are blutbad,” snapped Saul. “Their kind is damn dangerous and you know it. Who were they? Did you catch their names or did you do your damn job?”

Robert could feel his blood starting to boil. “Fuck you. I’m a Grimm. Not a bloodthirsty monster. I don’t kill kids, and I sure as hell don’t go around murdering their mothers you sick fuck.” He was more than just a little pissed off now. “I let them go. There’s no fucking need to outright murder someone just because they look different. They weren’t hurting anyone.”

“You’re a Grimm! It’s your job to kill the bad wesen!” Snapped Saul. “Blutbad’s are bad wesen. They are wolves! Predators! For centuries they have been killing my kind just for fun. They deserve to be put in their place. What good is a Grimm that doesn’t kill?”

Every second he spoke just added more fuel to Robert’s burning anger. “Fuck you Saul. Fuck you and the petty bauerschwine blutbad feud. I refuse to let you use me as an executioner. If I’m going to be executing anyone, it’s gonna be you, and I guarantee I’ll make it painful. As a Grimm it’s my damn job to make sure humans are safe from wesen, and sometimes to do that it means protecting a natural predator wesen from some pig cop with a chip on their shoulder.”

There was some silence from Saul’s end before he spoke. He sounded a little calmer. “My prejudice aside blutbad’s are still considered dangerous among the wesen community. If either this mother or their child get into some kind of trouble I want to know what I am dealing with so the greater populous of Maple Bay isn’t put in danger. Can you understand that?”

“It still doesn’t change my stance on this matter,” snarled Robert. “Fuck you, fuck your wesen feud bullshit, and fuck you again for thinking you can use a Grimm. You fucking call me again it better be because you grew some balls and are arresting me.”

He hung up and gritted his teeth. There was nothing more deadly than a wesen with a grudge, and if Saul did find out that Craig was a blutbad there could suddenly be a lot of dead bauschwines and a lot of bloodthirsty blutbads in Maple Bay. That was something Robert wanted to avoid at all costs. The geier and musai incidents were more than enough trouble for him.

Suddenly Betsy yelped and dashed towards her water bowl. Looking down at the container in his hand he realised he had gotten too distracted by Saul to notice that Betsy had started to chow down on his food.

“… For fuck’s sake! I told you not to eat my damn food!” Robert groaned in frustration. In about ten minutes Betsy was gonna to be a very, very unhappy dog.

***

Once Betsy’s intestinal discomfort had passed, Robert decided to go to The Coffee Spoon. He thought being around people would be a good distraction for him. Anything was better than having to worry about Saul potentially trying to arrest him.

He sat at his usual table with his usual cup of black coffee while some people drifting in and out. No one really stayed for long, apart from Carmensita who had taken over a table to do her homework. She caught him looking at her and immediately grinned and walked over to him.

Robert was not used to children doing this kind of thing. “Um, hi?” 

“Hi Mr Small,” she chirped. “You up to any cool Grimm stuff today?”

“Kid, I’m getting caffeinated… and drunk later.”

“… So boring adult stuff?”

“Basically.” He sipped his coffee and stared at the inquisitive girl. It had been way too long since he had been around children. All he really knew was that he really needed to filter what he was saying, lest they start picking up on his bad vocal habits. Like swearing or inappropriate sexual innuendos. However Carmensita was a teenager so it might be okay to slip up a little? He wasn’t sure on the correct social etiquette with teens. 

“So… what’s it like being a Grimm?” She asked. “You’re supposed to be like, super dangerous badasses. Real life monsters.”

“… Kid, you’re a rat person,” reminded Robert. “So is your dad, and Pablo. Pretty sure I’m the least monstrous looking adult out of the adults in the cul-de-sac. Don’t you have homework to do kid?”

“I’ve pretty much done it… Plus hanging around you is the most rebellious thing I can probably do, bar getting a tramp stamp tattoo.”

Robert glanced over at the counter, noting that both Pablo and Mat were keeping a rather close eye on him. It made him chuckle a little. “You rebelling against your old man?”

“Trying to. But it’s practically impossible when he supports everything you do.” She admitted.

Robert grinned. Carmensita was alright in his books. “Well whatever you end up deciding on don’t do anything super crazy that you can’t take back. Might I suggest hair dye? Something striking like… Light blue? Maybe ombre?”

“… That might actually work…” She quickly pulled out her phone and started to quickly search up different hair dye colours. “Do you think I’d have to bleach my hair first? It is pretty dark…”

“Probably. You might want to look into a professional doing it if that’s the case.” It felt really weird giving a teenage girl tips on how to rebel against her supportive dad. He looked over at Mat with an expression that he hoped read as; please help me I don’t know what I am doing why is she talking to me?

Thankfully Mat seemed to get the hint and quickly walked over, putting his hand on Carmensita’s shoulder. “Sita, if you’ve finished doing your homework maybe you could think about clearing the table before bothering Mr Small?”

She groaned. “Fine…” She quickly went over to the table with all her stuff on it and started to dump it into her backpack.

Mat sighed a little. “Sorry if she bothered you… She’s a little interested in Grimms these days, seeing as how you’re a Grimm and are actually approachable so yeah.”

Robert shrugged and drank his coffee. “Your kid’s fine. She’s just trying to be a rebel. Doubt she’d give me a second thought if she knew you weren’t afraid I’d randomly kill her.”

“Hey, I don’t think you’d kill her… Right?”

“What? Not at all” said Robert. 

“Right, right, sorry,” said Mat. “I just can’t help but feel a little cautious. You can understand that right?”

Robert shrugged and finished his coffee. “Whatever Mat. I’ll see you around.” He left the Coffee Spoon and headed towards Jim and Kim’s. With the way he was feeling he needed a few drinks under his belt.


	22. Graveyard picnic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a lot of fun to write, mainly because I was able to touch upon a few different topics that I was interested in in regards to both expanding the wesen universe in Maple Bay and some more background info on Damien and Robert's past. Also, if you drink as much as Robert, call a cab or get someone to call cab for you so you can get your dumb ass back home. I highly doubt you'll be as lucky as Robert if you get blackout drunk. Drink responsibly!

Robert lost count of how much whiskey he had consumed after the sixth glass. Heck he didn’t even remember leaving the bar much less how he ended up in the local graveyard. He sat up and groaned a little as he rubbed his forehead. His foot hit a wine bottle. Picking it up he attempted to read the label. 

“… White zinfandel?” He sniffed it and gave it a sip. He couldn’t remember the last time he had had this. “Not bad.” He looked at the gravestone he was resting his head against and read the name. “Sophia Greenway. Beloved wife, loving mother… Have a drink lady.” He poured some wine on the dirt in front of her grave. 

Robert wasn’t too sure if it was seen as disrespectful or not to pour alcohol on a grave, but his pappy had told him it was a respectful thing to do. Just as long as you didn’t immediately set it on fire afterwards. He also felt a little odd about not leaving something for the dead after using their grave as a pillow. As if it was more disrespectful to nap and run.

He slowly pulled himself to his feet and drank some more wine. It was fruity and refreshing. Robert dusted himself off and took a bigger gulp of wine. The bottle was practically empty now but he still attempted to suck the last few drops out of it.

It might be the last bit of alcohol he’d be able to have for a while. If Saul actually did take him seriously and actually charge him for every one of those geier murders he’d get locked away for good. He wasn’t too sure how many years he’d get but he had a strong bet it was going to be life. Even then he’d probably end up getting shanked by someone in the lunch line. A lot of dangerous wesen were in prison and they would earn major street credit if they killed a Grimm. 

He sighed a little and started to stumble through the graveyard. If he was going to go to jail he at least wanted to have one last night in his own bed. He’d also need to make arrangements with Mary to get Betsy and to mail all his important wesen things to Val.

As he contemplated this he didn’t watch where he was going and ended up tripping over someone’s gravestone and face planted. “Fuck!” He yelped. “… Mother fucking fuck! Fucking bullshit fuck!”

“Robert?” Looking up from his spot on the ground, Robert was a little surprised to see he was looking directly at Damien’s boots. “What are you doing here?”

Robert sighed a little, resting his head against the ground. “What? Am I not allowed to indulge myself in my hobby of getting drunk and walking in graveyards? What are you doing out here?”

“I was enjoying an evening picnic. Would you like to join me? Do you require assistance to stand?”

He groaned and pulled himself to his feet again. “Nah, I’m good.” Robert followed Damien down a path to an older part of the graveyard. There, among the tomb stones was a checked picnic blanket and basket. “… You do this very often?”

Damien chuckled a little. “Not nearly as often as I would like to.” He sat down on the blanket and started to go through the basket. “Do you know the difference between a graveyard and a cemetery?”

“Never knew there was a difference.” He sat by Damien and took a small sandwich when offered.

“A cemetery is a large burial ground not typically associated with a church,” informed Damien. “On the other hand, a graveyard is typically smaller and is typically attached to a church. In fact, just over that hill is the local church.”

Robert looked over to where Damien gestured and nodded a little. “Right.” Maybe it was the alcohol in his system, or the fact he was tired, or a combination of both, but Robert’s filter between his brain and his mouth wasn’t working as well as it should. “So you sleep in a coffin too, or do you just dress up as a vampire?”

Luckily for him Damien didn’t seem too much offence to his words. “Really Robert. I am not a vampire in the sense you are thinking of. I simply enjoy the culture and elegance that comes with the Victorian lifestyle. Everything had etiquette rules that everyone followed. It was nice to know of someone’s intentions with a bouquet or a simple flick of a ladies hand fan.”

“… You’re into fan codes too?”

Damien laughed a little. “While I enjoy learning about such activities and even attempted to teach Mary a few phrases, it is much more or a woman’s activity. Victorian men didn’t generally carry around such items as many were highly decorated and used by women.”

“Did Mary learn any phrases in fan code?”

“Only the nastier ones.”

Robert grinned. “Of course she did.” He could just imagine Mary now, standing in her backyard with a fan in hand. Joseph would be talking to her and she’d be whipping that fan this way and that while Damien tried not laugh at whatever she was secretly saying to him.

After that the two fell into what Robert considered a peaceful silence. However this meant Robert had to deal with thoughts about Saul again. He didn’t want to think about how awful it was going to be, but he did. Saul, if he was vindictive, would have probably linked Robert to other murders back in Boston. He might end up with other a thousand life sentences. That would be kind of impressive.

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of those thoughts. Robert needed a distraction and just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “So is Lucien your biological son or what?”

Damien was a little surprised at the sudden question, but answered anyway. “Yes, Lucien is my biological son.”

“Where’s his other dad?”

“Ah yes well… That is a rather embarrassing story I must admit.” He started to play with the hem of his cloak. “About a month before I finished my degree at university I ended up having a one night stand after getting very intoxicated. You wouldn’t believe the panic I was in when I found out. I was deathly afraid that I had slept with a normal human or a wesen species I was completely incompatible with.”

“Sounds like a lot of trouble,” muttered Robert. “Never been too good at genetics, much less wesen genetics.”

Damien nodded in agreement. “Me either… I just know the basics, such as the child of a human and wesen can still woge, but only to a partial one, and incompatible wesen species well… Most pregnancies don’t make to the second trimester and if they do the children usually perish within a few days… I was so relieved to find out that Lucien’s father was in fact murciélago. It made tracking him down on campus much easier since there were only a small handful of them studying at the time.”

This seemed like a rather interesting story. “What happened?”

“Lucien’s biological father was much too frightened of the commitment a child would bring on him so I let him go. I did not wish to force him into an unwanted relationship as it would have just made him, me and Lucien miserable in the end… However, Mary did track him down and made him pay for many of the initial baby items. She said it was the least he could do after, and I quote; knocking up her baby bat.”

Robert snorted. That sounded like something Mary would say and do. “So you don’t regret not getting with that guy?”

Damien shrugged. “Not really. I didn’t find him overly attractive and I had no idea what his stance was on people like me in general. His only good quality as far as I know was that he was a murciélago. He just had my desired genetics. I might as well have gone to an IVF clinic and chosen a sperm donor. I’m just happy that Lucien was born safe and healthy.”

“Do IVF clinics screen for wesen?”

“Most IVF clinics have at least two wesen doctors and or nurses.” Informed Damien. “Most receptionists at fertility clinics are wesen too. It makes it so much easier to do a brief woge in front of each other before any real discussion starts. They can filter out the humans and most incompatible wesen species.”

“Huh… Interesting. You got anything to drink in that basket?”

Damien offered him a thermos of hot chocolate. “I would have brought wine, but I drove here tonight and would prefer to be completely sober on the way back.”

“Better than nothing.” Robert immediately burnt his tongue. He sighed heavily and cursed at himself. It was about then he realised that Damien was staring at him. “… You see something you like?”

Damien blushed a little and looked away. “Really Robert… I just wished to ask you a question since I shared something personal about how my son came to be and was wondering if it was too personal to ask.”

“… You’ll never know if you never ask Dames.”

“What happened to your wife?”

Of all the questions Damien could have asked he had to pick that one. Robert could instantly feel his stomach tie itself into knots. He could remember every detail of that night in his mind as clear as day. Alcohol had not dulled his memory in the slightest. He could remember their conversation word for word. He remembered what she was wearing, even the perfume she had spritzed on herself only minutes before. 

“… If you do not wish to say I understand completely,” said Damien quickly. “I can only imagine the fate that could have befallen the wife of a Grimm.”

“If only…” Muttered Robert bitterly. “If she had fallen foul of a wesen I could have blamed someone for it… As it stands everything was my fault.” He should have been paying more attention to the road. It was all his fault. She was dead because of him.

“I do not understand…”

Robert chuckled darkly and quickly lit up a cigarette. “The road was slippery and I was going just a little too fast down that mountain road. Took a corner too fast and we went over the edge… Marilyn, she…” He didn’t want to remember it. He didn’t want to remember the silence. He didn’t want to remember all that blood. Most of all he didn’t want to remember Marilyn’s cold, dead, glassy eyes staring at him in a silent cry for help that would never come. But he did. “… Paramedics said she died on impact. Didn’t feel a thing.”

Damien was quiet for a moment. “I’m sorry I asked that question of you. It was insensitive of me.”

Robert shrugged and took a long drag. “You’ve had it worse. Your whole family was murdered, right? You are that Bloodmarch family or am I wrong?”

The other man looked a little shaken from that sudden accusation, but reluctantly nodded. “Yes… That was my family. “One of my older sisters managed to hide me in the crawlspace between the floorboards before they…” He closed his eyes tightly and took a few deep calming breaths. “Mary’s father was the one that found me a day later. He was a maintenance worker for my father at the time. He did try to shield me from the horrors that had befallen my family, bless his soul, but I saw them all… It was so brutal…”

“You don’t have to say anything else,” muttered Robert. He knew better than to push someone about the death of their family, especially when he wasn’t trying to push the subject. “Look, that shit is fucking traumatizing. You don’t need to relive it.”

“… Thank you.”

They sat in silence a bit longer before Robert spoke up again. “I think I’m going to jail.”

“What?”

“I should have cleaned up after we got Lucien back,” he admitted. “Now this bauerschwein cop has me fucked over a barrel working for him… and I kind of pissed him off so he’s probably going to lock me up tomorrow… If that happens, can you give Mary my dog?”

Damien looked extremely unnerved to hear all this. “You can’t arrest a Grimm! You’ll be dead by lunchtime! Maybe I can hide you for a few weeks in my basement? Do you think that would work?”

“Whoa, calm down Dames,” said Robert. He wasn’t sure how to calm Damien down, or why he seemed to be overly emotional about him going to jail. It was time for a terrible joke. “Give me some credit Dames. I’ll be dead by dinner time. Lunch will be when they attempt to attack me but I’ll get the drop on him.”

“Robert… Please don’t get sent to jail. I don’t…” Damien nervously clenched and unclenched his hands. “Mary would be very upset about all this if you suddenly got sent away… I’m sure she’d be most upset if she was to suddenly loose her drinking partner over something like this and I too would be upset if you were to leave… You’re by far the most interesting thing that has happened to the cul-de-sac…”

He smiled a little at Damien’s words. It made him feel a little warm to hear that he would actually be missed by some people. Sure he suspected that Val would miss him a little, but he wouldn’t mind if she didn’t. He was a terrible father.

“Look Dames it’s fine. Really.”

“No it’s not!” He snapped. Damien looked so frustrated with this situation. “My goodness, you are possibly the most infuriating man I have ever come across… You have caused me much frustration and emotional grief since you have moved here I simply can’t verbally express it!”

Robert cocked his head in confusion. This sudden outburst from Damien was weird to say the least. “Um… Then express it physically?” He immediately wondered if there was a better way he could phrase that.

However, Damien seemed to take him up on that offer. He grabbed Robert by the front of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss, crashing his lips a little more forcefully than he probably intended to against his own. Of all the things Robert expected Damien to do, this was not one of them. Slap him maybe, but this? He felt Damien shudder and suddenly he could feel extremely sharp teeth piercing his bottom lip, quickly followed by the unmistakable taste of blood in his mouth and the feeling of that metallic liquid running down his chin.

Damien pulled back, blushing profusely. He wiped Robert’s blood off his lips as he started to quickly apologise. If Robert had to guess, Damien probably freaked out a little and woged into the sudden kiss, and bit him. Admittedly, it was not the worst thing that had happened to Robert while drunk. “… Kinky.”

“I am so, so sorry,” babbled Damien. “I just kind of acted on impulse and went for it. I didn’t mean to kiss you like that. Biting you was just… The way the skin around my lips pull when I woge doesn’t completely cover my teeth and the jut out just that little bit.” He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and quickly pressed it to Robert’s lips. “I shouldn’t have acted on that impulse. It was juvenile and utterly reprehensible for me to do so. So unbecoming of a gentleman.”

Robert chuckled a little and pulled the handkerchief away from his face. Seeing Damien panic over something he considered more unexpected than horrible was rather entertaining. Especially when he had woged into his true bat self. But now Robert needed to stop Damien from rambling, and slowly dying of embarrassment.

“Dames, calm down. Getting a little nip like this isn’t that bad.”

“… Really?”

“Yeah, just didn’t expect you to be such a kinky bastard outside the bedroom.”

“…” Damien’s face went bright red and he hid his face in his hand. He made a few strange chirps and clicks as his large bat ears swivelled independently of each other. “You are simply horrible Robert Small. You know that, right?”

“Yep.” He smiled fondly at Damien. He had to admit he was kind of cute looking despite looking like a giant bat. “So why did you kiss me?”

The poor man made a few more clicks and chirps. “Mr Small, I just… It was a mistake. I shouldn’t have… I mean, you’re a Grimm and I’m a wesen. I don’t know what the rules are with Grimm’s but I highly doubt they allow relations with wesen’s.”

“As far as I know, Grimm’s kind of just do what they want,” said Robert. Maybe it was all that alcohol still flowing through his system, but his words continued to flow from his mouth without getting filtered through his mind first. “So, if I don’t get convicted or multiple murders, want to go on a date?”

“W-what?”

“Come on Dames, I know you got a little wild in you. Wanna go out with me or am I too much Grimm for a gentleman like you to handle?”

Damien let out an exasperated sigh. “Robert Small, you are the worst.”

“So is that a no?”

“… No. I would like to pursue a deeper relationship with you… If you don’t get convicted of a felony within the next few days…”

Robert chuckled a little and slowly got up. He still wanted to go home and sleep in his own bed. He stumbled a little and Damien attempted to steady him, but Robert shooed him away. “I’m fine Dames.”

“Robert, your blood alcohol levels are enough to even give me a slight buzz.”

“… So you can taste alcohol in blood? Any other wesen tricks I should know about?”

Damien blushed a little. “Please Robert. This is neither the time nor the place… Allow me to give you a ride home. I don’t think it’s a good idea if you walk home right now… You could pass out.”

“I’ve already done that. How do you think I got here in the first place?” Asked Robert. “Started at Jim and Kim’s, then bam. Woke up here.” He took a few steps and immediately tripped over his own two feet. 

“… Are you okay Robert?”

“… Might take you up on that offer.”


	23. Mary's not so cunning plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically a continuation of what happened after Damien dropped Robert's drunk ass home with a bit of Bloodmarch family drama.
> 
> Also, for some reason I really like the idea of Mary growing up on a farm or at least a semi rural place with a big barn. I have no idea why. Oh well. Enjoy.

Damien managed to get Robert safely home, but now he had some troubling issues to deal with. First and foremost, he kissed Robert. He kissed Robert right on the lips and accidently bit him. He couldn’t help but feel incredibly stupid at how spontaneous he had been. However he justified his actions due to the most troubling issue. Robert might be going to jail.

He needed to talk to someone, and there was only one person he could think of. Mary.

Damien hoped that Mary was at home this evening and not out drinking. He knocked at the door and patiently waited for someone to answer. Unsurprisingly, Joseph was the one who answered the door. He looked a little surprised to see Damien, but smiled warmly at him. 

“Damien, nice to see you on his fine evening. Is something wrong?”

“Is Mary home right now?” He asked. “I wish to speak to her about something…”

Joseph hummed a little, showing concern. “She’s upstairs in Crish’s room. Can I ask what’s wrong?”

As much as Damien hated to admit it, he did not like hanging around Joseph. The ziegevolk did not have the best relationship history when it came to monogamy, but their natural charisma and charm prevented people from outright hating them for the most part. Still didn’t mean Damien didn’t have a distain for the things Joseph could have done to Mary. 

“Just a few personal issues I would rather be discussing with Mary. Unfortunately this matter cannot wait till the morning.”

Joseph nodded a little and let Damien inside. “You remember where Crish’s room is, right?”

“Of course I do. Do not fret,” said Damien. He walked down the hall, passing an ungodly amount of nautical and Christian themed knick-knacks. Damien was just thankful the Christiansen’s hadn’t collected those porcelain babies that most Christians seemed to collect for some reason. He walked as quietly as possible past the other children’s rooms, assuming they had already gone to bed and slipped into Crish’s room.

Mary was sitting in a rocking chair while gently rocking the small, fussy infant. Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw Damien. “Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes my special boy. What are you doing here?”

“… Mary, I have a confession and a problem that must be addressed tonight for I fear tomorrow will be much too late.”

Mary frowned and attempted to put Crish in his crib, but he started to cry. Reluctantly she continued to coddle the infant. “Okay, confession first, then problem.”

Damien nervously ran his nails over the seams of his vest. “Well… I kissed Robert.”

Mary looked completely stunned. “What?”

“And he agreed to go out with me.”

“What?”

“And I accidently woged during the kiss and impaled his lips with my teeth.”

“…” Mary snorted and tried very hard not to burst into laughter. “Holy fuck. Seriously? Dames… that’s just… Wow…”

Damien blushed horribly. “Mary, this is not funny. The poor man was very drunk and I shouldn’t have done such a thing.”

Mary chuckled and rubbed small circles into Crish’s back. “Trust me Dames, if a kiss is the worst thing you two did, he did pretty damn good. So you two love birds gonna go on a date? Gonna do some bad things? Gonna get down and nasty, and make little Grimm bat babies?”

“Mary!” Damien was mortified at her words and went completely red. “Please… being together in those ways I just… This is where my problem comes in. Robert might get arrested tomorrow.”

“… What?” She frowned, looking very unhappy. “This is about that pig cop, isn’t it?”

“The bauershwein? Yes…” He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “He just… You can’t arrest a Grimm. They are untouchable and if he does go to jail… Mary he will get murdered the second a wesen realises what he is.”

Mary nodded a little and gently rocked Crish in her arms, finally getting the small child to close his eyes. “… We can’t let that happen… There’s no way I’m letting Robert go to jail of all people. Grimm’s can’t live in a place like that… Hell, Maple Bay is arguably a hell of a lot safer with him around. Who knows how many people those geier bastards would have ripped apart, or how many young men that musai bitch would have destroyed?”

“Very true… I just… I don’t know what to do. We have to help him somehow.”

“… Well I have one idea that might help,” said Mary. A coy smile happily danced across her lips. “It all kind of depends on how dirty you want to get your hands… Also, do you still have those other licence plates that we swiped that one time when we got very drunk when we were kids?”

Damien felt like this was a bad idea. A really bad idea. “Mary, are we going to kidnap someone?”

She looked offended. “Dames, thought you’d know me better than that by now… How many gallons of petrol can we get at a gas station before we look suspicious? Two? Three? Got any of that knock out sleeping powder left?”

Damien was suddenly regretting asking Mary for help.

***

Admittedly Mary’s plan wasn’t the best and they probably could have come up with on short notice. Pouring sleeping powder into the Maple Bay police station was one thing, but Mary had to get ahead of herself and almost blow herself up while Damien scrubbed the servers clean and edited the security cameras.

Damien grumbled to himself as he applied ointment to Mary’s fingers. “I told you we should have just taken it with us and burnt it later.”

“Hey, how was I meant to know that sleeping powder was flammable?”

“… Mary, one of the key ingredients is pure methanol. That’s alcohol. You used to be an apothecary for crying out loud.”

Mary waved him off with her unsinged hand. “That was a life time ago Dames. Haven’t made one of those since high school. I’m more into making cold and flu medicines in exchange for coffee and baked goods.”

Damien sighed a little and started to put everything away. They had gone straight back to his place after they had committed several felony’s. It had taken the two of them a while to get everything ready, and even longer to actually carry out their plan. Now it was early in the morning and both of them were very tired, but at least it was done. Damien could only hope that this was the last illegal activity they would be involved in for many years.

“You still should have been more careful,” he muttered. “What is Joseph going to say when he sees what happened to you?”

Mary rolled her eyes. “He’s gonna keep his damn mouth shut. That’s what. I’ve let him get away with a lot of shit over the years because of his wesen bullshit. He can do the same for me now.”

A frustrated sigh managed to escape Damien. He had long suspected Joseph’s wesen nature might have made him slip up maybe once or twice. No wesen was perfect and prone to give into their primal nature if they weren’t careful.

“Has he been unfaithful again?” Damien knew Mary wasn’t very close to anyone else in the cul-de-sac besides him and Robert. However, Damien was the only one close enough to Mary to know the true extent of Joseph’s infidelity. Mary had come crying to him about it often enough over the years.

Mary scoffed. “Dames our marriage is on life support. Every now and then we try to restart the fucking thing, but it’s a terminal case. If we were normal humans we would have divorced long ago…” Suddenly she grew extremely frustrated. “God, but every fucking time we start to talk about finally doing the right thing and splitting up… I have no idea if he’s using pheromones on me or if I’m just a fucking idiot because we both always get side tracked at the last second… And there’s the kids! Are they ziegevolk or fuchsbau? Who fucking knows? Not me that’s for fucking sure!”

Damien ached for her. She had not been put in an easy position in the slightest. She couldn’t just do what was best for herself and just leave. If she could have she probably would have by now. “I’m sorry things are the way they are… If you do intend to leave him you’re more than welcome to stay here with me and Lucien until you find a place of your own.” 

She smiled a little at him and sighed sadly. “You’re too nice to me Dames… God I envy you. You got knocked up by some random douche canoe and they bailed on you. The dumb fuck didn’t shove a ring on your finger and knock you up three more times.”

Damien was about to correct her, stating that the twins counted as one pregnancy but quickly shut his mouth. Mary was correct. She had been pregnant four times. Not all pregnancies were successful. Even more so when it came to mixed wesen relations.

“Oh please Mary. It’s I that’s envious of you,” clamed Damien. “You have no idea what I wouldn’t give for a second income, especially in Lucien’s younger years. You also have many wonderful children, and you are able to take care of all of them with what seems like relative ease. You know how I adore children almost as much as I adore animals.”

Mary snorted. “You could have gone to a fertility clinic. Some wesen doctors fudge the paper work if you’re single and can’t find a compatible wesen to bump uglies with.”

Damien blushed at the thought. “Mary please. I had enough difficulty raising Lucien alone. I don’t think I could handle another one, even if Lucien was willing to lend a hand…” He sighed a little and cleared his mind of those thoughts. “Besides, I think it’s impossible for me to love another child as much as I love my Lucien.”

Suddenly the back door opened and Lucien slipped inside. He had a few cuts, bruises, and scrapes across his face, arms and hands. He froze in place when he saw Damien and Mary were in the kitchen, and they stared at him in shock.

The younger Bloodmarch quickly looked away and quickly tried to leave. “Morning.”

Damien was having none of that. There was no way he was going to let this go. “Now wait one moment Lucien. What on earth happened to you? Are you okay? Have you been out all night? Are you just getting home? Those are the same clothes you were wearing yesterday when I left!”

Lucien grumbled something under his breath.

“Excuse me?” Snapped Damien a little more harshly than he should have. “What did you just say to me?”

“I was roosting! Okay?!” He snapped back. “Lately I can’t sleep. When I can’t sleep I walk, and lately I’ve been drawn to the woods and I get compelled to climb trees. I feel asleep in a tree and fell out! Get off my case!”

Damien was taken aback by his son’s outburst, but instantly felt a hundred times better learning that Lucien hadn’t gotten attacked. “I’m sorry Lucien. I did not realise you felt the need to roost. I assumed you were attacked. Dear me, I just assumed roosting was a thing I used to do… You will eventually grow out of that odd quirk Lucien. Hopefully soon.”

Mary snickered a little. “Until then get yourself one of those leaver strap belt things. You know, those things that builders use to keep all their shit in their truck? Ask Brian where to get one. Get yourself one and anchor yourself to the tree trunk. Less likely to smack your face on ever branch if you fall asleep.”

Damien nodded in agreement. “Yes, it’s also a lot easier to anchor yourself to a tree trunk than the roof of a barn.”

Lucien looked confused. “I sense there’s a story no one has told me before.”

“Your dumb ass dad used to roost on the god damn barn roof,” said Mary. “Dumb ass also repeatedly rolled off the roof and into a pile of hay. Got so bad dear old dad bolted a full body harness in case the idiot decided to roost when there was no hay for him to fall into so he wouldn’t die.”

Damien blushed a little. He had never been overly excited to share stories of his childhood escapades. Especially since most of them were of him making a fool of himself unintentionally. He was grateful his childhood was over.

Lucien nodded and slowly started to make his way towards the door. “Well I’m just going to go and clean myself up… Hope your hand heals up soon Mary…” He quickly slipped away.

Mary chuckled a little. “Yeah, here’s hoping kid.” Once he was out of ear shot, she quickly turned to Damien. “You should probably get some sleep too. You wanna look nice next time you see good ol’ Rob and try to smooch him again.”

That sent a whole new wave of embarrassment over Damien. He blushed and nervously looked away. “Mary…”

“Pro tip, don’t lacerate his lips with the razor blades stuffed in your skull,” suggested Mary. “I know he’s a Grimm and used to seeing all us wesen folk, but I think he’d like to keep his lips on his face. He’s no hexenbiest or zauberbiest. The lipless, zombie look isn’t sexy to him.”

Damien sighed a little and buried his face in his hands. “Mary please… I have no plans to accidently hurt him like that again… I also really do not want to taste his blood again.”

“Too alcoholic?”

“It tasted like I was drinking strong port wine! His blood alcohol levels were though the roof! I would vomit if I tried to drink this blood. Both because I can hardly stomach the stuff when I accidently bite my own tongue, and blood is completely disgusting anyway.” He shuddered a little. “Do people have any idea how many diseases you can get from blood? And it’s gross and metallic and I just… Ew…”

Mary chuckled a little and patted his back. “Alright Dames, I’ll be seeing you later. I really need to get some sleep. You have a good one Dames.”

“Of course Mary.” He walked Mary to the front door and then promptly went to bed himself.

***

Robert woke up to the sound of someone relentlessly pounding on his front door. Something he didn’t want to be a part of. However, Betsy was going crazy at the front door and would probably continue to bark long after this person was gone. Much to his disappointment, Robert pulled himself out of bed and went to the front door.

Unsurprisingly to him, Saul Graves as at his front door. “… So am I getting arrested?”

The detective gritted his teeth in annoyance. “Well, I was going to come here this morning to say I was sorry for losing my temper over this blutbad nonsense… But that was before someone set a fire in the damn evidence locker!”

“… What?” Now Robert was confused. “You think I had something to do with that?”

“Damn right I do,” he growled. “Very few bits of evidence were damaged beyond recognition, but curiously all the physical evidence from your geier massacre were destroyed, and any files I had on the server have somehow vanished. It’s like the crime never happened.”

“… Yeah, I was completely blitzed last night,” said Robert calmly. “So that means I have a hangover right now, and if I drank enough to get a hangover that means I wasn’t functioning enough to light fires and or wipe computers clean. I would be more likely to set myself and the computers on fire. Go to Jim and Kim’s and ask Neil what I was up to. ”

Saul looked extremely frustrated, but he was determined. “What were you doing last night after Jim and Kim’s?”

“Got freaky with a neighbour in the graveyard.” He gestured to the bite marks on his lip. “Real freaky. Not freaky enough that we’d get arrested for indecent exposure, but still freaky enough to where I started bleeding.” He kind of remembered getting kissed by Damien and vaguely something about going out with him if he didn’t get arrested. It would become clearer when he didn’t have a massive headache. “So either arrest me or go away and let me recover.”

“… This isn’t over Small.” Saul stormed off back to his car. 

Robert frowned a little as he watched him drive away. He shrugged it off and went back inside. He’d take some painkillers and see if he could get back to sleep. After that he’d deal with whatever the rest of the world had to offer.


	24. More teenage angst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why more teenage angst with the hoodie gremlin and the emo kid? Because being a teenager is hard and they are going through stuff and because I relate to these two a lot for some reason. No idea why, I just do so they get their own on going subplot.

Ernest was getting worried about Lucien. The older teen was usually more quiet and aloof than most people, but this was starting to get ridiculous. Whenever they ditched class together Lucien would stay dead silent and completely ignore Ernest. More often than not he’d actually fall asleep. Sometimes Ernest would actually find Lucien sleeping in the weirdest places around the school. Lucien wouldn’t even talk about what was going on with him.

This obviously offended Ernest a lot. Was he too boring for Lucien now? Did he not trust him anymore? Did he do something to offend him? He had to find out.

It was lunch time so Ernest went to check the roof of the science building. They usually hung out there since it was far away from the cafeteria and normal people. Normal was fine for Ernest. He hung around a few people in his year and kind of considered them friends, or at least people he tolerated. That was a quite a difficult feat, considering Ernest didn’t like people in general.

Unsurprisingly, Lucien was sleeping on the roof top. In fact, he was dead asleep on top of one of the air conditioning vent. His limbs were sprawled out every which way as he baked in the sun. Lucien was way too white to be doing this.

Ernest walked over to him and pokes his face. “Hey, wake up you idiot.”

“Fuck off.” Grunted Lucien as he swatted Ernest’s hand away. “I’m trying to sleep.”

Ernest frowned a little, noticing the abrasions and bruises on Lucien’s face. He was no longer annoyed. He was fucking pissed. “The fuck happened to you? Did some shit head beat you up?” He woged and started to breathe heavily and stamp his feet, like a bull ready to charge. “Who the fuck was it? I’ll gore the fucker!”

Lucien sat up and glared at Ernest with bloodshot eyes. “Ernest. Shut the fuck up. No one beat me up. I’m just to tired that I’m literally falling over and walking into shit.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it,” snapped Ernest. “Stop stone walling me you prick! The fuck is going on with you? You just decided that now you can control your woge that I don’t matter? You too cool for me you piece of shit?!”

Lucien just looked annoyed at Ernest’s ramblings. “Fuck off Ernest. You wouldn’t understand.”

Ernest was practically fuming at this point. “Are you fucking serious?! Since when do you pull this shit? Is it because I’m too young or some bullshit? We’re wesen you dumb fuck! Like hell I wouldn’t understand what you’re going through! Is it the geier thing? We can talk about it! I was there too asshole! I’m not going to be a shit head and tell you to man the fuck up over it! Just talk to me damn it!”

The older teen clenched his jaw and walked away from Ernest towards the edge of the roof. It seemed like he wasn’t in the mood for talking. Again. Ernest couldn’t understand why Lucien seemed to resent him now.

“Seriously, what the hell is your deal? Talk to me you idiot!”

Lucien leaned against the railing and sighed a little. “You might be wesen, but you’re not a murciélago.” He woged and jumped over the railing.

Ernest nearly had a heart attack and ran over. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Lucien was calmly striding across the grass like nothing happened. He kept forgetting that murciélago’s could survive rather high falls. In his defense it was a pretty easy to forget since Lucien hardly ever pulled stunts like this. He really must have wanted to avoid Ernest if he did this.

It made him feel sick to his stomach. Lucien must have hated him. Just because they weren’t the same type of wesen didn’t mean he couldn’t try and empathies with him. He wasn’t the cold-hearted screw up everyone else seemed to think he was. He just wasn’t good at showing affection towards people.

“… FUCK YOU LUCIEN!”

***

That interaction had left Ernest pissed off for the rest of the day. He hardly paid attention in class and had half a mind to just skip the rest of his classes and head home to throw rocks at the fence. However his last class was his dad’s class, so he couldn’t unless he wanted Hugo to ground him.

So there he was, quietly seething in the back row as he scribbled stick figures in the margins of his work while his dad attempted to make Shakespeare interesting. Ernest hated it. Even he knew Shakespeare was not meant to be read, but watched. They were plays for crying out loud and actually hearing actors speak would have made it easier for everyone to understand what the hell was going on.

Ernest had completely zoned out when one student got into an argument with Hugo about Othello’s race. Since it was set in Europe they argued he was white. This was all despite explaining to the class minutes earlier that the term Moor was ye old speak for black, and the fact Moor was only used when describing Othello himself. It was annoying.

All he could think about was how much Lucien was pissing him off, and that pissed him off more because he didn’t want to think about it. Lucien was pretty much his best friend. They’d known each other since forever. They told each other everything. What had changed so much? It wasn’t fair.

He suddenly jolted in his seat when the bell rang. Finally it was the end of the day. He quickly grabbed his things and left the school as quickly as possible. He didn’t want to walk home, lest he run into Lucien, so he went to the parking lot and sat on the hood of Hugo’s car. He took his vape out of his bag and quickly started blowing vape clouds out his nose.

Hugo looked a little surprised to see Ernest waiting for him, but said nothing. At least for the moment. Ernest knew from experience he’d wait till they were both in the car and actually driving so Ernest couldn’t suddenly jump out if things got too heated for him.

So there he was, sitting next to Hugo in the front seat of their car as they drove home. Despite glaring out the window for most of the way, Ernest could tell that Hugo was throwing him concerned looks. It was annoying and starting to piss Ernest off just as badly as the thing with Lucien. 

He and Hugo didn’t have the best relationship in the world, but it certainly wasn’t the worst. If anything, Ernest’s main problem with Hugo was how overly authoritarian he was with him. He was just so inflexible with all his rules. It pissed him off. However, Hugo was also the more logical and clear headed when it came to his dads. Hugo was the best choice when it came to asking for advice, even if Ernest would never actually admit it.

“So…” began Hugo. “Is there something you want to talk about? You were zoning out a little more than usual during class. I know it was the last class of the day but-”

“Lucien’s a shit head,” snapped Ernest. “He’s fucking ignoring me. All he wants to do is be alone and sleep.”

“Language.”

“… Dad, he woged and jumped off the roof because he couldn’t stand being around me.” Saying that out loud made Ernest’s stomach twist painfully. “He hates me… And I don’t know why…”

“I don’t think he hates you. Maybe he’s going through some personal issues?”

“Well I wouldn’t know because he’s not talking about it!” Snapped Ernest. “No matter how many times I try to talk to him he just shuts me out… And it’s for the dumbest reason. He said I wouldn’t understand because I’m not a murciélago. What the hell kind of reasoning is that?”

Hugo thought long and hard about what Ernest said. “… Well maybe what he is going through is a murciélago problem? I’m sorry but we taureus-armenta are very different from murciélago. We don’t face many of the same physical problems that they do. Whatever Lucien is going through he is probably going through it with his dad.”

“But we’re all wesen. What happened to all that talk about sticking together, or was that all just bullshit?”

“Language.” Hugo sighed a little as he tried to think of the best way to answer his son. “Ernest, wesen sticking together has always been more about wesen working as a group to avoid detection from humans. If we don’t then the Grimm’s move in and start killing, or even worse, the wesen council.”

Ernest frowned a little. He knew a little bit about the wesen council from the times some of the grownups had talked about it. As far as he knew they were the ones who made up the laws that all wesen had to follow. Mainly the whole keeping their existence from humans a secret part. They also often ordered the execution of any wesen that broke their laws. Nasty stuff.

“Well a Grimm lives two doors down from us so we’re kind of screwed anyway, aren’t we?”

“Robert isn’t that kind of Grimm. Hasn’t he proved that to you already when he took you to that place?”

Ernest rolled his eyes. “You still mad about that?”

“Yes I am still mad about that!” Snapped Hugo. “The adults could have handled it! You’re just a child! You could have died if things went bad!”

“Well they didn’t Hugo,” snarled Ernest. “And you already grounded me for that so you can’t do that again. Also, I stayed in the van the whole time, like I explained before… And how the hell did you turn this conversation against me?”

“I wasn’t trying to do anything like that Ernest.” Hugo pulled into the driveway and Ernest quickly escaped into the house, slamming his bedroom door behind himself as hard as possible. He didn’t give a fuck about what Hugo was talking about. He was a jerk and not helpful at all.

***

Ernest spent most of the night angrily trying to burn holes into the ceiling with his eyes. Everything sucked. Being a wesen sucked. School shucked. Hugo sucked. Lucien sucked. Everyone and everything sucked. He just wanted things to go back to normal and be easy for once. However he knew better than most wishing for that stuff wouldn’t make it happen. He’d spent far too long wishing his dads would get back together to know that.

Suddenly his door opened. “Go away Hugo.”

“Borf?”

Ernest looked at the door, relieved to see that it was just Duchess Cordelia. She was this beautiful mastiff who was smart enough to open doors on her own. Ernest had convinced Hugo to adopt her when she escaped the animal shelter and broke into their house.

He reached out to her and let her sniff his hand. “Hey Duchess,” he muttered. “You have a less shitty day than me?”

The mastiff jumped up onto Ernest’s bed and lied across him, crushing him slightly. Despite Duchess being as smart as she was, she for some god awful reason thought she was a lap dog and tried to sit on everyone all the time. While it was cute, she kind of cut off all circulation to the legs of whoever she sat on.

Ernest managed to wriggle out from under her, but that didn’t stop Duchess from resting one of her oversized paws and huge head on his chest. Ernest could live with that. “Boof.” She huffed.

The teen sighed and started to spill his guts to Duchess. He told her all about how much of a shitty friend Lucien was being to him and how Hugo wasn’t helping him by telling him it was a murciélago problem he needed to keep out of. 

“He just doesn’t understand,” whined Ernest. “I just want Lucien to talk to me again. Like, what did I do?”

Duchess wiggled her nose and drooled on him. “Borf.”

Ernest sighed and scratched behind her ears. “I can’t think of anything really shitty I’ve done recently. I mean, I gave him space after the whole geier thing and listened to him when he wanted to talk about it. I didn’t ask too many questions about it and I don’t think I accidently triggered him… So what did I do?”

“Borf.” Duchess leaned into Ernest’s hand and started to wag her tail.

“Why the hell do I even bother? It’s all bullshit you know,” he said. “If Lucien wants to be some emo freak with no friends who am I to stop him? He’s just an ungrateful jerk… I can’t believe I ever thought of that guy as a friend. He isn’t a friend…”

“Borf.” Duchess seemed to be giving him a very judgmental look. Like she knew everything Ernest was saying was complete bullshit.

“… I don’t need that attitude from someone that got bamboozled by a pigeon the other week. I just want Lucien to talk to me… He’s a stupid idiot that doesn’t hang around people and never talks to anyone about his problems.” Without even looking at her, Ernest could tell Duchess was judging him even harder than before. “A fucking pigeon landed behind you, chirped, and scared you. You have no right to judge me. I have human friends… kind of…”

Duchess leaned up and licked Ernest’s face. “Borf.”

Ernest wrinkled his nose. “Ew… Your breath stinks. You been licking your ass again or something? Actually, I don’t want to know if you’ve been doing that. You’re getting worming tablets again if that’s the case, or a new dentabone thing… Both.”

Duchess made no complaints as she nuzzled into him. “Borf.”

“… I still want him to talk to me,” he said quietly. “I don’t want him to hate me…”

Duchess let out a small sigh and climbed over Ernest, and lied on top of him, effectively crushing the small teen. “Borf.”

Ernest flailed. “Duchess! Get off me!” She did not.


	25. Trip Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scharfblicke; (shaarf-blik-uh) an owl-like wesen. These wesen are very secretive and thus not much is known about them. They will do odd secret jobs for other people within the wesen community.
> 
> Hexenbiest; (hek-sen-beest) a witch-like wesen. Feared throughout the wesen community, they are known for telling lies, vengeful and highly aggressive when provoked. They seem to only be concerned with popularity and beauty. Humans often fall for them but because of their toxic personality they never last. They are not above turning on their own to further their own goals. If one of their kind has created a potion of cast a hex they are able to smell the magic in their wesen form. A hexenbiest's blood has magical properties that their male counterparts (zauberbiest's) do not possess and thus their hexes and potions are usually more powerful.
> 
> Zauberbiest; (tsow-ber-beest) a warlock-like wesen. They share many of the same characteristics and behaviours as their female counterparts though their own magic is not as strong as theirs and therefore are at a slight disadvantage. However they are known to be more sadistic than hexenbiests.
> 
> I just wanted to introduce these two both at the same time because these Hexen and Zauber guys are technically the same thing they just have specific male and female pronouns. I'm guessing it's kind of like a Lord's and Ladies thing with them. Anyway, zauberbiest's don't pop up in this chapter but it seemed dumb to exclude them since they are almost the exact same thing.
> 
> Also, introducing Val's girlfriend Megan Lang. Hope you all enjoy Val's interactions with her.

Discomfort. Agony. Misery. Torture. Anguish. It didn’t matter what fancy word people would slap on it, it didn’t change the fact it all meant the same thing in the end. Pain. Val was in pain. Officially she had fallen down a flight of stairs and dislocated her shoulder and given herself a concussion. Truthfully she had gotten her ass beaten by one pissed off hexenbiest.

Currently, Val was sitting in backseat of her girlfriend’s car. She had just collected her from the hospital and was not impressed with Val in the slightest. “I told you this would happen,” she muttered. “But you didn’t listen. You just had to go in there by yourself and get hurt.”

“Megan…” 

“Nope. No talking,” snapped Megan. “I am mad at you.”

Val didn’t mean to ignore Megan and run after the hexenbiest. She was just in the right place at the right time. She was so close to killing off the hexenbiest too. She just happened to get the drop on Val and threw her out a window. She just got a little over excited. She blamed her dad’s influence for that.

Robert had always kind of just threw himself into things once he knew what he was dealing with. He passed that onto her. The second she found out about the hexenbiest causing trouble she tried to go and take her down. She needed to get the drop on them before they even knew a Grimm was after them. That was just what she did. It was what she was taught. She knew it wasn’t good. Her work ethics needed to change for the sake of her relationship. Val didn’t want to end up like Robert.

“I’m sorry Megan,” she said quietly. “I should have listened to you… I’m going to keep working on communicating Grimm stuff with you. It’s just kind of hard for me.”

“…” Megan sighed. “I know love… You know I’m just worried about you. Being a Grimm is dangerous and there’s only so much I can do to help you.” They pulled up at a red light and she reached over, gently squeezing Val’s hand. “I’m just happy you’re okay. You deserve all the happiness you can get.”

“So do you.”

Megan smiled a little at her and started driving when the light turned green again. They made it back to their apartment without any trouble. As soon as they got inside, Val sunk onto the couch, cringing at the pain that quickly burned through her body.

She watched as Megan started making something in the kitchen. A small smile made its way onto Val’s lips as she thought how lucky she was that Megan decided that she was worth the time. They had met about four years ago at some dumb shopping center. Megan had set herself up in a kiosk selling a bunch of custom phone cases, badges and pins.

They were cute, Meg was cute, and Val ended up stopping by and bought a different pin every time just to talk to her some more. Val quickly became smitten with the young girl with the black bob haircut. There was just this sparkle in her eyes when she smiled or the way her nose wrinkled just that little bit when she laughed that made her heart skip a beat every time.

It took Val almost a year and a half before she finally worked up the courage and asked her out. By then she didn’t feel that she had anything to lose. If Megan rejected her then Val could eat her weight in ice cream and never to back to that shopping center again. If she said yes, Val would just die of happiness right in front of her.

Of course Val didn’t die when Megan said yes. The two of them dived into their relationship and spend as much of their free time together as they could. Megan was this small voice of reason that helped to ground Val and make her see further ahead than the next day. Val helped Megan to relax and loosen up. She helped her walk on the wild side. They were good for each other.

It was another full year before Val found out that Megan was a Scharfblicke, and Megan found out Val was a Grimm. Something silly had set Megan off and she woged right in front of Val. Megan’s soft skin had instantly sprouted owl-like plumage, her nose extended into a beak and her gorgeous green eyes had become larger and amber in colour. They were both scared and had no idea what to make of each other. 

There was crying and feelings of betrayal on both parts, but they couldn’t deny the truth. Their feelings far extended whatever deep seated assumptions they had about each other. They knew who they were. Val Small was Val Small. Megan Lang was Megan Lang. Nothing and no one was going to keep them apart.

“What are you cooking Megan?” She asked. “Smells good.”

Megan shrugged. “A random assortment of finely chopped meat and vegetables. You need your strength if you want to heal up nice and fast. You need proteins and irons. You need to get lamb and mushrooms and spinach in you.”

Val laughed a little, cringing when she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. “You’re too nice to me.”

“I’m just a girl looking after my silly Grimm.” Megan lightly tossed the food in the pan. “So… You called your dad this week, right?”

“… Been busy with work,” muttered Val. “Between editing that adolescent swimwear range and hunting down that hexenbiest I just haven’t had the time… Plus he’s probably busy doing stuff anyway.”

Megan was not going to accept that. She knew all about Robert and his less than stellar record when it came to parenting. Val had cried to her about it more than enough times when the Grimm had gotten particularly drunk. She also knew about Val’s attempts to try and reconnect with her dad, but recently she had just backed off completely.

“Bullshit Val,” she said. “You’ve just cut him out completely. You didn’t even let him know about the hexenbiest you were chasing this time did you? Did something happen between you two?”

Val pouted and looked away. “Nothing… I just want dad to get used to his semi-retirement in Maple Bay… He needs to do less wesen related stuff, or at least learn to do less wesen stuff. Things were bad enough when he I told him about the geier. He hadn’t been on a proper hunt for like two, maybe three years prior to that. He could have gotten really hurt… Maybe he has and he hasn’t told me.”

“Well that explains where you got your stubbornness from,” cooed Megan. She came over to Val and sat next to her with a bowl of food. She stuck some meat on a fork and held it to her face. “Now open your mouth and say ah.”

“… Megan, only one of my shoulders is busted. I can use my left arm.” She tried to stare Megan down, but reluctantly opened her mouth anyway. “Aaaaaaaah…”

She grinned and fed Val. “Good girl. Now, you can’t just be fazing him out because you want him to stop doing wesen stuff. What’s really wrong?”

Val shrugged as she ate. “He just sounded less drunk when we were talking. His speech was less slurred and he was awake before midday a few times when I called and or texted him… Sometimes he sounds like he did when mum was alive… Going to Maple Bay has started to fix him and I don’t know why it worries me.”

“… Maybe you’re worried because you’re not there to help him get better?” Suggested Megan. “Like maybe you think you were holding him back? Which is complete bullshit by the way. You’ve been nothing but supportive to him. Maybe you miss him and feel like he’s moving on? Despite all his faults as a dad he is attempting to make it right with you. Sent you a birthday card and Christmas one every year, right?”

Val smiled sadly. “Yeah, I think he’s just making an effort for mum though. Anyway, Maple Bay is just meant to be a place for him to relax and get all grey and wrinkly with his dumb old dog. Last thing he needs is for me to come down and badger him more with Grimm related questions… I can make it on my own.”

Megan looked at Val like she just unironically declared that she was a scientologist who believed in the flat earth theory. “Val, a hexenbiest threw your dumb ass out the window of a second story building, and you had to hobble your way do the hospital. There’s no shame in asking for help when you need it.”

“Sorry love…” She ate some more food.

Megan smiled a little at her silly girlfriend and kisses her forehead. “It’s okay. I know you’re doing what you think you need to do. Why were you even after this hexenbiest anyway?”

“She was changing her appearance so she could manipulate wealthy old men into giving her millions on a daily basis and or in their will. She was like a black widdow, but harder to trace. She got over twenty people that I know of by using that trick. Pretty nasty stuff.”

“Ah… did you at least kill her and get the job done?”

“Nope. She got to me before I could knife her.”

“That sucks.”

“Yeah, hope she isn’t the kind for revenge… Even though hexenbiests are kind of vengeful and spiteful bitches…”

“If she comes near you I will peck her eyes out.”

“I know babe.”

“You should still give your dad a call,” said Megan. She held the fork just out of reach of Val’s mouth as he made this point. “Not as a Grimm talking to a Grimm, but as a daughter talking to her father. You need to tell him how you feel, why you feel the way you do. Maybe even organize going down to Maple Bay and spending some time with him.”

“… Would that really be okay with you?’

Megan grinned and kissed her cheek. “Of course. I’m more than capable of holding down the fort here in our humble flat. I’ve made more than enough money at my crappy kiosk and etsy store to keep up with rent for a week or two if you need to spend lots of time with your old man.”

Val chuckled a little. “I’ll let my shoulder heal a little more first before I make any plans to head on down to hang out with my old man. Now give me my food you silly bird.”

“Good. Eat up. I spent a good five minutes shallow frying this for you.”

***

Robert frowned a little as he slowly lifted his third glass of whiskey to his lips. It had been a few days since he had caught up with Mary and Damien at Jim and Kim’s. He had asked Mary about what happened with her hand and it didn’t take too much for Mary to spill the beans.

He slammed down his drink and sighed heavily. “… So let me get this straight; you two essentially gassed the MBPD, broke into the evidence locker, set all evidence about the geier murders on fire, hacked into their data base and deleted everything else… Are you two insane?”

Damien looked far more guilty and uncomfortable about this than Mary did. “W-well you were going to go to jail… and I didn’t want that to happen.” He said quietly.

Mary shrugged. “Consider this some good karma. You’ve done a lot of good for the people of Maple Bay, or at least good for the wesen in the cul-de-sac… This counts as your birthday and Christmas present from me for the next two years at least.”

“You saved my son’s life. I’m practically indebted to you for the rest of my life.”

“Dames has the world’s biggest hard on for you.”

“Mary!”

“Regular sized hard on?”

Damien face palmed. “Mary, that is neither the point nor what is important at the moment. We committed several felonies to ensure Robert’s not sent to prison for saving a life, and in hindsight, many more lives. He performed a public service.”

Mary grinned and raised her glass. “I’ll drink to that. Hell, I’ve drunk for less.”

Robert chuckled a little at their antics. “A toast to me. May I continue to cheat certain death.” The group clinked their glasses together and took a drink. Robert had to admit, he was extremely lucky to have friends like Mary and Damien. Though now he would have to consider Damien as his boyfriend now. Maybe.

He did remember saying he’d go on a date with the other man if he didn’t get locked up in the slammer. He’d have to check with Mary to see what was and wasn’t a good dating activity. He hadn’t been in the game for years and wanted to pick something relatively nice. That way even if they didn’t have any real romantic chemistry between them they could at least still have some kind of friendship. Damien was cool, and if he really fucked things up with him there was a high chance Mary would ignore him too.

Mary hummed a little as she swirled her merlot in her glass. “So you two gonna fuck like rabbits when we get back to the cul-de-sac or what?” 

Both men choked on their respective drinks. “Mary!” Cried Damien. The poor man was completely flustered and beet red. “Do you have to be so crass about such topics?”

Mary just shrugged and polished off her glass. “What? My bedroom window faces Bobert’s house. I wanna know if I should keep the damn thing shut all night or if I can get a light breeze going.”

Damien looked like he was about to die of embarrassment. He woged and proceeded to drown his troubles in the bottle of merlot he and Mary were sharing. “So crass and unlady like…”

Robert chuckled a little. “Mary, you should know by now I ain’t the kind of guy that does that shit with people that don’t wanna do it. I mean, I’m a piece of shit, but I’m not a piece of shit scum bag.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” said Mary. “Let’s drink to that too. To Robert; you aren’t as shitty as you could have been. But seriously, to quote Othello are ya’ll gonna be making ‘the beast with two backs’ hmmmmmmm?”

Robert rolled his eyes. “No Mary. We aren’t going to be doing that. You can leave your window open without fear tonight.”

“Good.”

Suddenly Robert’s phone started ringing. He quickly answered it. “Hello?”

“Hey dad it’s me,” said Val.

“…” A creeping sense of fear quickly slithered under Robert’s skin and he quickly set his mind into Grimm mode. “Hey Val. Good to hear from you. Do you need some special help?”

Val laughed a little. She seemed way more joyful than usual. “If by special help you mean clear off the couch for me then yeah. I’ve decided to come down to Maple Bay for a few days to see how you’re settling in. If that isn’t too much trouble.”

That threw Robert off guard. He didn’t expect Val to ask to stay with him. He knew she was trying to reconnect with him in a more familiar sense, but he didn’t expect her to suddenly leap into this. Maybe she had gotten tired of him not picking up on her attempts to start a non-Grimm related conversation? He couldn’t blame her if that was the case.

“Dad? You still there?”

“Um yeah sure. I’ll clean a space out for you. Don’t you worry about that Val.”

“Thanks dad. I’ll be down in about a week. I’ll call you with the details a little closer to the date. Thanks dad. I really appreciate it,” said Val. “I really miss being able to check up on you every other day…”

He smiled a little. “I miss you too kiddo.” 

“Talk to you real soon dad.”

“You too Val.” He hung up and put his phone away, letting out a long, slow breath.

Mary frowned and nudged his foot. “That was your kid right? What’s wrong with her?”

“Nothing… Val’s just… She’s coming down to stay with me for a while.” Robert could hardly believe he was actually saying that out loud. It just seemed way too sudden and out of nowhere. There had to be something more to it. There had to be. But Val had always been very straight forward with him. He was confused.

Mary just grinned at him. “That’s good, right? You two aren’t really on the best terms with each other to start with so this might just be what you need.”

“Does she know about everyone else?” Asked Damien quietly. “Is she a Grimm like you, or is she… you know…”

“You don’t need to worry,” said Robert “Out of me and Val, she’s the nicer one. Last time I checked she had a whole network of wesen helping her out in various ways.”

“Ah, well that’s good,” said Damien. “I look forward to meeting her.”

Mary grinned. “As long as she doesn’t go around lopping off people’s heads she’ll do fine.”

Robert smiled a little, though he felt a little nauseous about Val coming over. “Yeah… I’m excited to see her again.”


	26. Awkward dates can be salvaged

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some light hearted dating shenanigans with Dames and Bobbert... For the most part. Things get heavy at some points but hey, that's just life.

Things were a little difficult for the next few days between Robert and Damien. Not in an emotional, romantic sense, but more in a, their schedules never seemed to line up, way. Either Damien was always working and was too tired to go out or Robert was sleeping. Also, Robert thought a dinner date would be boring.

However with their lack of options and Mary constantly breathing down Robert’s neck to take Damien somewhere nice, Robert reluctantly made reservations at an Italian restaurant that Mary recommended.

“Basil and pesto pasta’s one of his favourite Italian foods,” she had said. “That and gnocchi. Hell, pesto gnocchi is something he’d die for.”

So that was how Robert found himself having dinner with Damien. Robert was a little surprised that Damien was wearing his usual gothic attire since he had claimed that he was coming straight from the animal shelter where he volunteers. He would have assumed that his changed he clothes to work with animals. Maybe he kept a spare set at work? He wasn’t sure.

Damien seemed a little nervous about this, but it was probably because he was tired. Perhaps he felt strange about this because of the circumstances surrounding this date? If anything Robert felt like Damien earned it. Hell, he would have gone on a date with Mary too if she asked. It wasn’t everyday people would almost blow themselves up to save his drunk ass from prison.

The black haired man didn’t seem like he was going to relax anytime soon, so Robert had to engage in the activity he loathed the most. Small talk.

“Thought vampire’s couldn’t eat garlic?” He gestured to the garlic bread Damien was currently eating as part of their appetisers. 

Damien chuckled a little. “Robert, we have gone over this many times. I am not a vampire. So those rules do not affect me… However many people do believe that garlic became known as a vampire deterrent because they suck blood like mosquitoes, and garlic was used to repel mosquitoes during Bram Stokers era before the era of bug sprays.”

“Huh, informative. Surprising how much other things influence classics.”

“Indeed.” Damien took a sip of his wine. “… Did you know that parts of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein were actually influenced by the real life works of Giovanni Aldini? He believed in his uncle’s theory of animal electricity and conducted many experiments where he would electrocute decapitated animal parts in front of audiences that would gasp in morbid horror as the animals would spasm. His most famous experiment was when he performed his electro-stimulation technique on the recently executed criminal George Forster in London.”

Robert couldn’t help but smile a little. Damien was rambling, but he did seem to be more comfortable now. “Is nothing original these days?”

“And that isn’t even going into the real world books that Frankenstein’s monster read in the novel,” said Damien. “Name dropping such titles back then was the subtle way of saying you must read these to truly understand my message.”

“And I’m guessing you’ve read all of them yourself?”

Damien blushed a little. “I must admit I was curious as to why they were so important to Mary Shelly that she felt she had to include them. To be quite frank it was all really, really pretentious, but I could understand the emotions Mary was evoking by using such works.”

Robert chuckled. “I guess. You know, you can make anything sound pretentious if you try hard enough, and if the words are long and complicated.”

“Very true,” said Damien. He swirled his wine in its glass, looking thoughtful. “Robert, would you mind if I ask you how you are so well versed in classical literature? Not that I don’t doubt your reading abilities. You have read Carmilla, which was shocking enough to me. I mean, people don’t tend to read the classics these days.” 

Robert shrugged. “Growing up as a Grimm my old man and I used to travel around a lot. Especially during the summer. Didn’t have much entertainment besides books and the occasional movie… It wasn’t the best entertainment, but it was kind of nice to have some kind of escape from everything that was going on. But I preferred going to the movies over reading when I had the option.”

“… Robert, how old were you when your father started to take you out hunting wesen?” Damien looked more than a little concerned.

He saw no reason to hide this information. “Well I was ten when I first saw them so… First summer after that we went to Canada and well yeah… I was ten. In hindsight, it was pretty fucked up.”

“That is… That’s way too young…” said Damien quietly. “I would have thought you would have started when you were older… Fifteen at the youngest…”

Robert shrugged. “Well like most horrible things in my life I have blocked it out with so much alcohol. Getting constantly hit in the head and knocked out helps too. It’s a good thing Grimm’s are way tougher than your average human. We can take a real beating.”

The waiter came by with their food. Pesto gnocchi for Damien and some pasta dish Robert picked at random. He’d never been overly fussy when it came to food. Sure he had his favourites, like Hawaiian pizza, but apart from that he really couldn’t care less. Moving around so much in his youth he never really developed much of a taste for anything specific. As long as it didn’t look like or taste like shit he’d give it a go.

The two of them fell into what Robert felt like was a comfortable silence. He hadn’t been on an actual date for years now. After Marilyn passed away he just completely fell apart. If he was going to be with anyone it never lasted more than a night. Maybe two if they were a good lay. Hell he never even went out to dinner with his hook ups. It was just drinking and a night of primal pleasure to forget the shit that was day to day life.

Marilyn would hate him now if she could see what kind of person he had become; an alcoholic, dead beat bastard that willingly slept with anyone that wanted him. He felt filthy just thinking about it. He was a pathetic waste of space. A shell of a man. Not even a man. Hardly human. He was the shell of something vaguely human but not quite there. Marilyn would hate him. She had to. There was no way she could forgive him for doing these things. Hell, there was no way she would be able to forgive him for killing her. He was a monster.

He mentally slapped himself, trying to free himself of those negative thoughts. He was on a date now. With Damien. He shouldn’t be thinking about all the horrible things he had done or about what Marilyn would think of him. He couldn’t. Not now. Later. He’d let those thoughts consume him later.

“Get any new dogs at the shelter?” God, Robert hated small talk. But according to Mary small talk was essential to start building a proper relationship with someone. It was dumb.

“No new animals this week, thankfully,” said Damien happily. “But several cats did get adopted. Two of them were our older residents too. Captain and Queen.”

“Captain and Queen?”

Damien chuckled a little. “Captain happened to lose an eye due to an unfortunate fight with another cat when he was younger and he kind of reminded us of a pirate. Queen acts like royalty always has, and she has been at the shelter for ages so we couldn’t very well call her Princess.”

“I see.” Robert really wanted to stab himself with a fork. Small talk was the worst. Why did some people feel the need to fill the room with words? It was just empty white noise that served no purpose. “… I’ll be back in a second. Need to use the bathroom.”

Robert quickly disappeared to the bathroom and splashed some water on his face. This didn’t feel right. Was it him? Was it Damien? Everything just felt wrong to him somehow. Maybe what he ate was bad or something? He needed to pull himself together.

Last time he had gone on a date was with Marilyn years ago. He could still remember their first date too. Star gazing in the middle of a field in the back of his truck. There were fireflies everywhere. Robert had caught a few in a jar and Marilyn had told him some story about fireflies being fairies. Robert didn’t have the heart to tell that fairies were bloody horrifying and blood thirsty bitches when pissed off.

God he missed her so much.

***

Damien felt as though this date wasn’t going very well. Sure Robert was interesting and making polite conversation but he seemed distracted by something. Perhaps it was the fact he was a wesen that was putting him off? He really hoped not. He still really liked Robert. 

He had realised that being wesen and Grimm relationship things were not going to be normal. There had to be some part of Robert that was repulsed by him. Damien himself knew that there was a small part of him that was still a little cautious of the Grimm. But he was a good man and Damien prided himself on not taking things at face value.

He sighed a little as he pushed some gnocchi around on his plate. Despite it all he still felt like things were slightly off. Admittedly it had been well over six months since the last time he had gone on a date with someone. He was a nice enough fuchsbau, but his interests lied more in gothic horror than the actual gothic subculture and everything had quickly fizzled out. 

Perhaps he himself was a little too rusty when it came to dating? After all, who in their right mind talks about the experiments of Giovanni Aldini, or traumatic childhoods over dinner? He was completely awful at this. He might as well have asked Robert how many wesen he murdered over the summer over his first year. He had to do better.

Damien glanced up just in time to see Robert coming back. He smiled a little at him as his mind quickly started racing, trying to think of something interesting to talk about. He panicked a little when all he could come up with was Grimm and or wesen related questions. That was annoying. He had to think of something else. He had other questions for him before he knew he was a Grimm. He had to think of one that didn’t strike a chord.

“Your dog, Betsy. How did you come by her?”

Robert seemed surprised by the sudden question. “Honestly? I really don’t know. I kind of woke up one morning and there was this puppy eating cold pizza out of a pizza box.”

“… Seriously?”

He shrugged. “Hey, I checked around to see if she was missing or micro chipped. As far as I know I got really, really drunk and bought a puppy or I just found her in a cardboard box and decided to keep her.”

Damien wasn’t too sure if he could believe that. It seemed much too random. Then again he didn’t know too much about Robert’s life before Maple Bay. “Well that is… interesting to say the least. I am glad she had been such a faithful companion to you. Everyone deserves a chance to find their animal equal.”

“Then why don’t you own a pet?”

It was an innocent enough question to ask. “Well some animals and wesen get along quite well while others do not. Blutbad’s for instance either adore dogs and they become an integral part of their family pact, or they despise their canine brethren to the point where a dog will attack a blutbad out of instinct. As for me in particular, though I do know Lucien is allergic to dogs we do not know if other pet dander has the same effect on him. Safer for him if he does not interact with them you know? Though we have talked about perhaps getting a reptile or an amphibian of some kind.”

“Well that’s a good option.”

“Yeah…” He just told himself he was going to talk about things that weren’t wesen related to Robert. So what did he do? Immediately find a way to bring wesen into the conversation and ramble on about it too. He was such an idiot.

Robert nodded a little and kept eating. Something seemed a little off to Damien. It wasn’t just himself being tired that was clouding his judgement. He felt awful. Whatever was wrong had to do with him. When suddenly, it hit him; maybe Robert was trying to hide his Grimm side too? Obviously a wesen wouldn’t want to hear about all the things a Grimm would do, considering they kill wesen. But who they were was such a huge part of themselves that it practically invaded every part of their beings. He knew better than most not to hide his true self.

A small smile made its way onto Damien’s face. He had an idea on how to save this date. “Robert? Do you have anything planned for after dinner?”

“Um, not really. Why?” The corner of Robert’s mouth quirked up into a slight smirk. “What are you planning?”

“You shall find out after we have eaten,” said Damien. His idea was silly, childish and kind of destructive, but he was pretty sure Robert would like it. Damien himself certainly enjoyed it when he was a younger free spirit. 

The two of them finished their meals in a comfortable silence. It only ever broke when Robert would attempt to pry Damien’s secret plan out of him. Unfortunately for him, Damien’s lips were sealed. Even as they left the restaurant Damien didn’t say a word. The two of them simply got into Robert’s truck and Damien gave him directions. Eventually he made Robert stop just by an empty lot about a block away from the animal shelter.

Damien ignored the quizzical look Robert was giving him and confidently walked into the lot, collecting up the small amount of beer bottles people threw about the place. He carefully balanced them along the crooked back wall of the lot. He gathered up a small handful of rocks and handed them to Robert.

Robert looked from the rocks in his hands, to Damien, to the back wall, and back at Damien. “… Are we throwing rocks at bottles?”

“I’ve heard that a Grimm has impeccable aim; could hit a duck over the far side of a pond while it was taking off, or so I’ve heard,” he said sweetly. “But perhaps you don’t have any more of that wild in you?” It was kind of fun to throw that phrase back at Robert, and he hoped to come off as more flirtatious than mocking.

Thankfully for him, Robert seemed very amused by this. “So this was your big plan? Throwing rocks at shit? Doesn’t seem like a very gentlemanly activity.” He threw a rock at a bottle, knocking it down.

“Nonsense. Marksmanship was a very noble and gentlemanly thing to do. Especially considering one never knew if they would have to enter a pistol duel to defend their honour, or the honour of another.” Truthfully, Damien was just talking out of his ass. He just wanted to do something reckless that he knew Robert would like. “One had to have impeccable aim to ensure they themselves did not get injured. I myself was quite a good marksman back in the day.”

Robert raised an eyebrow and grinned. “Oh really now? Did you use to shoot things?”

Damien nodded. “Mary and her parents used to live on a farm. We both know how to use a BB gun. Neither of us were overly enthusiastic with using an air rifle and didn’t continue using them after our teenage years.”

“Huh, the more you know.” He offered Damien a few rocks, but Damien shook his head. This seemed to annoy Robert a little. “Come on Dames, you can’t tell me that story and not show me how good your aim is.”

“I fully intend to.” He woged and ran his claws through his hair. This was going to be a little tricky, but he was pretty sure he could still do this. “I must admit I’m a little rusty, but I shall try my best.” He flexed his tongue a little as he needed to get it in just the right position for this to work. He looked took aim at the bottles and made a sound that sounded like a tree trunk splitting, knocking over a few of the bottles.

Robert jumped a little at the sudden noise, but grinned once he realised what Damien had done. “My god… you’re your own air rifle. How long did it take you to learn that trick?”

Damien blushed. “It took a few months for me to learn that. It did save a lot of money on ammunition.” 

“I can imagine so.” Robert threw another rock and hit another bottle. “Bet I can knock down more than you… Mr Bloodmarch, I challenge you to a duel.”

“A duel?”

“You’ve called my marksmanship into question,” he said with a smirk. “We must duel for my honour good sir.”

Damien gladly accepted the challenge and the two of them engaged in a battle of knocking over bottles. It was silly, juvenile, and fun. Damien didn’t even bother keeping score, if either of them even were in the first place. This kind of date definitely felt more natural and fun for the both of them. Even if Damien did prefer a more refined dating experience, this was still good. 

After a while Damien started to feel tired and he woged back to his human form. “Dear me, I must confess I must call it an evening. I am much too tired to continue tonight’s activities.”

“Alright Dames. Let’s head back.” They got into Robert’s truck and headed back to the cul-de-sac.

The drive back was quiet and Damien felt content with how everything went. “Thank you Robert. This evening was quite lovely. Perhaps next time our schedules will line up better?”

Robert grinned. “Yeah. Sounds like a plan.” The pulled up to Robert’s house and Robert looked completely shocked.

Looking at Robert’s house, Damien was surprised to see there was a woman standing at his door with her luggage. She looked a lot like Robert with her matching skin tone and dark brown hair. She was wearing a magenta shirt under a black waist-length trench coat. This young woman also wore a black pencil skirt and her golden jewellery was chunky and triangular. She had her sunglasses firmly placed over her eyes and even stood just a little like Robert. 

“… Robert, who is that?” Asked Damien. He had a feeling he knew the answer, but didn’t feel confident stating it out loud.

Robert sucked in a breath and quickly went over to greet her. Damien followed.

The woman grinned at him, looking rather pleased with herself. “Hey dad. Missed you.”

“Missed you too Val.”


	27. The Crash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some slight bonding and catching up with Val and Robert... with a side of traumatising memory dream stuff. Enjoy.

Things were so awkward. Robert didn’t think that Val would kind of turn up out of the blue just like that. She said he was going to call. Did he somehow miss it? Was she going to call the house phone? Did something happen that made her come over earlier? He’d have to ask her about it. Once Damien and Val had introduced themselves of course.

She smiled at Damien and offered him her hand. “Valarie Small, and you would be?”

“Damien Bloodmarch, at your service, Miss Valarie.” Damien said with a slight flourish. “I am quite delighted to finally meet you in person. Your father has mentioned you once or twice.”

“Only good things I hope,” she said. “And please, call me Val. Valarie seems way too formal.”

“Ah of course,” said Damien. “Well Robert has mentioned that you were a Grimm, and if I am correct the very Grimm that informed him of the geier that were after murciélago vocal chords. You have my deepest thanks. Your actions saved the life of my son.”

Val chucked a little and nodded. “Well I’m glad I was able to help you guys out. Always ready and willing to help out anyone and everyone in need of assistance.”

Damien smiled a little. “It’s so nice to know that another Grimm is looking out for the wellbeing of us wesen.”

Val yawned a little. “Pardon me, I’m dead tired. I kind of just want to get to bed and sleep.”

“Of course. I shall make my leave. Once again it was a pleasure to meet you Val.” He looked at Robert and smiled happily at him. “This evening was rather pleasant and I hope we can do it again soon. Goodnight.”

Robert nodded a little. “Night Dames. See you later.” He watched the gothic man walk back to his home, then quickly turned his attention back to Val. She looked so much Marilyn did back when she was the same age. “So, I guess you should come in?”

“Sounds good pops.”

He opened the door and Val walked inside, wrinkling her nose when she smelt the alcohol. “Damn dad, I really thought you weren’t hitting the bottle anymore.”

“Baby steps Val. Baby steps.” He whistled and Betsy came running over. The dopy dog stopped dead in her tracks and gave Val a very confused look. Robert chuckled. “It’s been a while since she’s seen you. She’s probably forgotten what you look and smell like.”

“Ah, well I’ve started wearing a new perfume. She probably thinks I smell weird.”

“Probably.” He picked up Betsy and gently patted her. “So… I really don’t have a room cleared out for you yet. I was expecting you to actually call me before you got here…”

Val shrugged. “Figured you’d give me some excuse as to why I couldn’t come over. Like you had taken up fishing and you’d be out all weekend, or golfing, or something. So I just had to drop in unexpectedly.” She sat on the couch and smiled up at him. “Sooooooo, you and Damien… How long has that been going on? Thought you were into girls?”

Robert sighed a little and sat next to her. Betsy jumped off his lap and ran off somewhere. “Look, I don’t think I’ve ever been completely straight. Your mother knew about this and well… Damien’s an alright guy.”

“Dad, he’s a pretty dangerous wesen,” she reminded him. “You might want to think twice? Maybe even thrice about this? It doesn’t really seem that safe. I mean a Grimm and a wesen? Really?”

“… Thought you said you were dating a wesen yourself?”

Val looked a little surprised that Robert remembered that about her. “Well yeah, but she isn’t exactly going to outright murder me if I somehow fuck everything up and I just…” she sighed a little and looked away from Robert with a wistful gaze. “I really can’t imagine you being with anyone but mum…”

That stung. That stung a lot and twisted his stomach in painful knots. “Me either…”

“… So is it just a fling?”

God, Robert didn’t really know himself what he wanted with Damien truly. He just knew he didn’t want to hurt him. “I don’t know.”

Val still wasn’t looking at him. “… So is this a pull out couch or what?”

“Right, get up and I’ll fix this.” The Small’s got up off the couch and Robert quickly pulled it out. “Alright, I’ll go and get some bed sheets. Um, bathroom’s up the hall, first room on the left.”

“Thanks pops.”

“Yeah, I actually haven’t used the downstairs bathroom much, so you essentially have your own bathroom… How long are you going to stay?”

“Oh, about a week. That’s all dad. I just wanted to make sure you’re all set up and doing alright.” She smiled a little and playfully punched his shoulder. “But since you’re drinking less and finally moving on from mum, I guess things are going okay for you?”

“… Yeah.” He didn’t like how Val phrased that. It sounded just a little like she was taking a jab at him for moving on. He probably just wasn’t used to the way she talked anymore. She was probably happy for him. He was just being paranoid. That was all. He quickly set Val up and sighed a little. “Look, sorry I didn’t have a better space set up for you. Are you really okay with this? We can find a hotel room for you to stay in tomorrow if you want to.”

Val yawned again and shook her head. “Nah, I’m good. Let’s talk about this tomorrow. I need some shut eye.”

“… Okay Val. Night.”

“Night pops.”

Robert smiled a little at her and walked to his room. It felt weird to have Val living under the same roof as him, but he felt happy. Kind of. He was happy that she actually cared enough about him to show up. He wasn’t going to mess up. Hopefully. He needed to do better for her. For Marilyn. But mostly for Val. She deserved better than how he had been treating her for the past few years. 

Robert fell into an uneasy sleep.

***

The night air was kind of damp against Robert’s face as he drove down the road. Everything smelt damp and kind of decayed. There had been some heavy rain earlier in the day so that was to be expected. His passenger hummed happily to herself as she flicked through the radio stations. Her mint scented perfume permeated the air around them. Was it mint? It smelt more herbal and earthy than floral.

“I really don’t like you taking Val out all weekend doing Grimm stuff,” she said. “She has homework to do. Her finals are coming up and I’ll be damned if you’re gonna make her fail.”

Robert chuckled a little. “Alright Marilyn. No more Grimm stuff till she’s done with exams. She might not get top scores in all her classes, but she’s gonna be better than her old man.”

Marilyn rolled her eyes and snorted a little. “Honey, every graduate is doing better than you. Aren’t you a high school drop out?”

“Details… But yes.” He glanced over at Marilyn and grinned at her. “Either way she’s gonna do amazing things, even if she doesn’t want to be a Grimm. At least she’ll have options.”

Marilyn smiled at him. “Honey, things are different now. If you really want you can go to community college and learn something.”

“Like what?”

She hummed for a moment. “You could learn computer stuff? Computers seem to be a big thing these days. Maybe even learning how to be a butcher? You’re good at cutting stuff up.”

Robert thought for a moment and nodded. “Maybe.” The road was starting to bend and curve a little more sharply than before. He slowed down a little. “But it doesn’t really matter that much. Right? I got some jobs lined up in the wesen community so things will be fine.”

“Yeah…” Marilyn sighed a little and looked out the window. 

She was not a Grimm. She didn’t even fully understand what a Grimm or a wesen was. But after traveling long enough with Robert, he had made her a believer in the supernatural. However, just because she believed in this stuff and understood Robert’s role in this world, she dreamed of a time when he could stop being Robert the Grimm and Robert the husband.

“Robby? This weekend, can we just get away from it all?” she asked. “You, me, and Val. Go on a little road trip? No Grimm stuff, just Small family stuff?”

He smiled. “Of course. We’ll go out and find a mundane adventure. Find some run down old diner and eat a bunch of gross food.”

Marilyn laughed. “Alright love.”

As she laughed Robert took a turn a little too sharply. The tires skidded. He attempted to correct himself. They drifted. They hit the barrier. The car flipped. It fell. It fell. It fell. It hit the ground. Metal crunched. Glass shattered. Then silence. So much silence. Too much silence.

Robert groaned a little. This fall, though painful as all heck would not kill him. He was a Grimm. His body was extremely strong and could take a beating more than the average human. He looked over at his wife. “Marilyn? Are you…? No…” 

Blood pained Marilyn’s face and clothes. Her neck and been ripped open by a rogue shard of glass, but that didn’t seem to matter since her head was twisted in an unnatural way. She was slouched over the dashboard, despite her seatbelt still firmly in place. She was dead. Marilyn was dead, and there was nothing Robert could do.

***

Robert woke up with a jolt. He felt clammy and was covered in a cold sweat. He hadn’t dreamed of Marilyn’s death in years. It was horrific. He didn’t want to remember that night. He didn’t. The memories were much too painful. He wanted a drink. Something stronger than whiskey. Pure methanol would work for him.

He pulled himself out of bed and trudged down to the kitchen. Robert almost jumped in surprise when he saw Val munching on some toast. He had almost forgotten Val was there. It was pretty stupid too, considering she had just arrived the previous night.

“Morning dad,” she chirped. “I made some toast for you.”

“Thanks…” He picked up his plate and ate. “So… um, anything you want to do today?” Robert wanted something, anything to start getting his mind off the horror that was witnessing his wife die all over again.

Val thought for a moment. “Hmmm, how about you show me around Maple Bay? I looked up some stuff about it before I sent you packing here, but I wasn’t too sure. Seems peaceful enough.”

Robert smiled a little. “Yeah. It’s usually pretty quiet around here. I’ll show you around after breakfast.”

“Thanks dad.” Val offered some food to Betsy in an effort to get the small dog to come over to her. Betsy stood defiantly in the doorway and stared Val down. “Damn. I don’t think Betsy likes me anymore. Is she mad I sent you way out here?”

“Probably, Betsy’s a weird girl,” he ate some more of his toast and contemplated getting coffee. “… We’re going out to get some coffee.”

Val raised an eyebrow. “Really? Don’t you have any instant coffee here?”

Robert looked offended. “Val, that stuff is okay, but I know this reinigen that makes the best coffee in Maple Bay.”

“… You have me intrigued old man,” said Val. “I shall get my purse and you… change out of the clothes I can only assume you fell asleep in.”

He looked down at himself and frowned. “… Right. Okay, let’s do that.”


	28. Ink and tattoos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More fun times with Val and Bobert. 
> 
> Also, full disclosure I spelt foetus like that instead of fetus because I am Australian and therefore I spell things the British way because that's how we do things here. Kind of like how I spell mum like that instead of mom. Isn't grammar fun? Yeah, it's not. Screw it. Enjoy.

Robert and Val’s day went pretty smoothly. They went to The Coffee Spoon and Robert introduced Val to Matt. He had been surprised that Robert had a daughter, but greeted her warmly and got them both some coffee. They talked a bit more and Robert told her about his run ins with the musai and the bauerschwein.

Val almost snorted her drink. “Really? You got threatened by a bauerschwein?”

“Yeah, but things are fine now,” said Robert. “Mary and Damien took care of it. Oh, Mary’s that fuchsbau I told you stories about when you were little.”

“The same fuchsbau that had to tweeze quills out of your ass when you fell on a porcupine?”

“… Yes.”

“I’d like to meet her too. You almost have more stories about her than you do about mum.”

“Well I wouldn’t say that…”

Val shrugged. “You never really talked about stuff you did with mum when I was younger. Always this mysterious fuchsbau woman.”

It wasn’t like Robert meant to keep telling Val those stories, but they were usually relevant to what they were doing at the time. Weird green slime on the walls? Mary and Robert found something that did that. Weird looking stab marks? Mary and Robert found a wesen that could make those marks. Some crazy monster leaping from roof to roof? Mary and Robert found a wesen that fitted that description. That’s all it was.

Marilyn on the other hand was just a human and their adventures together hardly dipped into wesen territory. The times when their paths did cross and Marilyn did get involved with wesen stuff it was usually her berating Robert for getting his ass beaten up again. Robert would take it because he knew he was being reckless.

It had taken a while for him to actually convince her of wesen existing. Wesen were tricky and many would never revel themselves to a normal human voluntarily. But there were times they would, hence the myths and legends surrounding intelligent talking animals and or monsters. Marilyn had been lucky, or unlucky, enough to see a wesen attack Robert. Some horrific crocodile monster Robert called a skalenzahne.

Apart from that, Marilyn didn’t really interact with the wesen community. She didn’t want to and Robert had respected it and didn’t pressure her into it. Sure he would drop bits of history and lore on her when she asked how his day was or if he wanted an outsider’s perspective, but that was it.

“Your mum she… She didn’t enjoy going on wesen hunts with me,” he said. “Even in our younger years she didn’t care for it. That’s just how things were…”

Val nodded a little and sipped her coffee. “I guess… So, quick question why do you have a submission tattoo on your hand?”

Robert looked down at his hand and frowned a little. “Yeah… Funny story about that… Depression and self-harm take on any forms you see…”

Val frowned a little and put her drink down. “Dad, is this going to go into some dark places?”

“Kind of… Look, I did consider offing myself a few times but I just couldn’t…” he shook his head. “Anyway, that is not important at the moment. I’m not as depressed as I used to be. Important thing, I got blackout drunk and had sex with a ziegevolk that decided to tag me with this so that they wouldn’t get offed when their pheromones wore off. Nothing much I can do to fix this.”

She nodded a little but continued to stare at the tattoo. “Dad… I’ve seen this before. I found a few wesen back home with this mark when I was working on a case. I wrote it down and everything… Very vile stuff just getting that ink… It’s not just something you pick off the shelf.”

Robert frowned a little and glanced down at his hand. He did not like where this was going. “Explain.”

“Er… if you’re sure…” she quickly glanced around to make sure no one was listening in and then leaned in. “Okay, so this ink… It’s very special and can only be made by a henxenbiest because it requires her blood as a bonding agent for some reason. But other ingredients include things like nettles, actual squid ink, fungus, and a few more common things… but there are other unsavoury things… human parts… Some dried liver, heart and um… a freshly mashed human foetus…”

Robert looked between the tattoo on his hand and Val, thinking very hard about what she just said. “So I need to amputate my hand as soon as possible? Got it. I keep my machete in the truck. Want to help cut off your dad’s hand?”

Val chuckled a little and waved it off. “Dad please. Yeah, it’s gross and stuff but you’re fine. Only thing that happens is well what that cursed tattoo is made for… So can any wesen use it or is it just the one that did it to you?”

“He’s the only one that can use it against me…” Robert was still very bitter about this. Thankfully he made it his mission in life to keep the hell away from Joseph and so far it was working.

His daughter nodded slowly again and let a long breath out through her nose. “I see… I guess that means he just added some of his blood to make that curse bonded to him and him alone. Anyway, back to the point. No one just has this ink lying around dad. This is some seriously old fucked up shit. Only a handful of hexenbiest’s actually know how to make it. It needs to be super fresh for it to work.”

“… So you’re saying there is no way it was a spur of the moment thing? It had to be planned? How long would it take to plan?” Robert could feel his blood boiling. He was going to find Joseph and run him over with Brian’s ride on lawn mower.

Val shrugged. “God it would have to take um… at least a month? Maybe? It would depend if this guy has connections to hexenbiest’s or not. This old crone used to live in Hell’s kitchen you see. If you wanted her to give you that kind of ink she’d make you drag the poor bastard to her place and tattoo them there.”

It was official, the next time Robert saw Joseph he was going to punch him in the face. “Is that how you found out about this tattoo of mine?” 

“Pretty much,” she finished her drink and smiled. “Well it’s not like you’ll ever have to see that freak again, right? That tattoo is practically harmless now without them around.”

“… Yeah…” Robert didn’t have the heart to tell her that the bastard that did that to him was his next door neighbour. He would however ask her to help him hide the corpse when he inevitably snapped and decided it was time to obliterate the God loving, pastel pink wearing, sea loving bastard. He’d invite Mary too. They’d make a day out of it. 

Val drummed her perfectly manicured nails on the table, humming happily to herself. “Still, sleeping with a ziegevolk? That’s just… It’s kind of sad. Doubt mum would approve. So show me some of the other things in Maple Bay?”

“Um, sure…” He quickly finished off his coffee and walked back to the truck. He knew Val was still upset at him with how he acted when Marilyn passed away. 

Sleeping with strangers and drinking till you black out hours, even days of your life was never going to make Val like him. He didn’t really remember how it started, hooking up. He thinks it started with a prostitute but wasn’t fully sure. He just remembered feeling sick in the morning and worrying if he’d caught something. Yet he repeated the same thing the next night with someone else. He forgot when he stopped caring if he was seen with a man, or if he ever cared at all. It just kept happening and everything kept snowballing. He wished every day he could take back that time, but he couldn’t. He wasn’t allowed to. Time didn’t work like that.

Marilyn would despise him if she was still alive.

Robert drove Val around Maple Bay, pointing out a few of the more interesting places for her to have a look at. She seemed to appreciate the effort he was putting in for her. He was glad. He needed to do better. Much better than he had been doing previously. Not many people were allowed second chances like this. He needed to do better for her. 

If Val didn’t think he was worth the effort by the time she needed to go back to Boston she might just give up all hopes and sever all ties with him completely. Not even calling him to help when she got really stuck on a Grimm case. He didn’t want that. He still loved her and wanted to be there for her.

He showed Val a few places and dropping a few little bullshit stories just to make her smile a little. Val seemed to enjoy it. That’s all that really mattered to him. He really wanted her to be happy. She deserved it.

While they were driving, Robert noticed that Val was pretty much glued to her phone. He felt a little dejected, but he had to remember that she was probably talking to people at work. He almost longed for the days where you’d just get calls and texts on your phone and not email and the internet in general. Then again it was way more practical than carrying around hundreds of books with him all the time. So he couldn’t complain that much.

“Who you texting?” Asked Robert.

Val didn’t even look up from her phone. “Work. Just an intern on our floor having a little bit of trouble with some stuff and I’m just helping them calm down. That’s all.”

Robert nodded a little. “… Okay.” He didn’t know too much about photography or anything overly fashion related, but it was important to Val. It was what she wanted to do. What she would be doing all the time if she wasn’t the Grimm of Boston. “They didn’t mess up too badly, did they?”

“Nah, just messed up a little with photo shop. They were touching up the lighting and kind of destroyed two to three hours of work,” she sighed a little. “Look, they need to just take this as a learning experience and remember to save like every half hour or so.”

Robert knew next to nothing about photo shop as a program. “Yeah…”

“… Still not overly tech savvy?”

“Val, I have enough trouble programming my alarm clock.”

“You have an alarm clock?”

“Not anymore.”

“… Threw it against a wall?”

“Yep.”

“… How are we related?”

“I impregnated your mum.”

“Ew.”

“Hey, you asked.”

“I know, but still. Ew.” 

Robert chuckled a little. God, he missed being able to talk with Val like this. He would deny it if anyone asked him, but he really missed just being a dad to Val. He knew he didn’t deserve it but wanted it.


	29. Father Daughter bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just another totally normal chapter. Nothing weird happening or going down in this chapter at all. No sir. Didn't drop some foreshadowing in a few earlier chapters about this totally normal chapter. Yes sir.

It had almost been a week since Val had gone to visit Robert and things were going pretty well between them. Obviously there was still some tension between them, but overall it was pretty good. He’d crack some dad jokes that would make Val die a little inside and she confused Robert with techno and fashion babble that he pretended to understand.

He took Val out to Jim and Kim’s a few times and introduced her to Mary. This was possibly his only regret because the two women instantly clicked and started sharing stories about Robert the Grimm and Robert the dad. Neither stories tended to paint Robert in a good light.

“-And then he freaked out for like an hour.” Said Val.

Mary snorted her drink a little. “Seriously? He couldn’t find you for an hour? How? Why?”

Val giggled. “I know, right? Big bad dad can face down some of the scariest guys and not even flinch, but a four year old has him in tears in less than five minutes.”

“In my defense-” said Robert. “-I didn’t know you had squeezed yourself between the couch and the wall.”

Mary laughed some more. “Ah, but seriously, I can’t actually imagine you crying Robert. They’re almost as hard to get as hens teeth. I would pay to see Robert cry.”

“I don’t cry Mary,” said Robert. “My tear ducts have shriveled up from disuse.”

“Boo, lame old man,” whined Mary. “One time when we were out hunting he dislocated his arm in the middle of a fight and screamed bloody murder as he whapped some wesen asshole with his flailing arm and stabbing with his good arm.”

Val laughed at that. “Wow, really? That must have suck. Did you have to take him to a hospital?”

“Nah, he got tossed into a wall and it popped right back in place.”

“Ah well, that’s good. You know what sucks thought? Betsy hates me now,” whined Val. “Do I smell funny now or something?”

“Ah, dog are funny things.”

Robert sighed and drank some more of his whisky. The girls were just going to keep gossiping and trading stories until they got sick of it. It was kind of nice really. It made Robert wonder if Val would have gotten along with Marilyn like this. Probably. They were kind of similar in some aspects; similar humor, similar taste in food, and similar taste in clothes at least when they were younger. 

As he started to think these thoughts he couldn’t help but feel guilty. He had been feeling way too guilty about her lately. He knew it was a stupid thing to feel guilt over. He knew he was always going to carry some guilt with him. Marilyn was his everything and he destroyed it all. His vicious memories of her death playing in his head in vivid detail every night wasn’t helping much either. It made him feel sick.

He had a sinking feeling that his dreams were getting worse because Val was with him. She was making him remember. He couldn’t blame her though. She looked a lot like her mother. It wasn’t her fault. He hated it. Val deserved better than him. Marilyn deserved better than him. He hated himself for that. It was at times like this he was forced to confront the fact that he was more broken than he realized.

Suddenly Mary stood up. “Back in a bit Small’s. It’s time to tap the keg.” She sauntered off to the bathroom.

Val grinned and sighed happily. “Okay, Mary is pretty cool. I like her a lot.”

“She’s a peach that lady.”

“Yep.” Val took out her phone and started going through apps. “Okay, so I am going to have to go back home soon but before I do, I kind of want to go on a hunt with you. If you like.”

Robert was a little surprised by this, but intrigued. “What kind of hunt?”

Val grinned and showed him an old photo of a shack on her phone. “I did a little reading up on the history of Maple Bay and found this really old place. It’s a little out of the way in the middle of the forest. But it looks really, really cool.”

“… Is it a ghost?” Asked Robert. “You know we do not mess with ghosts if we can help it… or spirits. Especially native ones. Lord knows those bastards are way more trouble than they are worth.”

“True, vey true.” She looked down at her phone and hummed a little. “Okay, so I don’t think it’s going to be a ghost. Might not even be a wesen, but it would still be cool to look at it. It seems really interesting. The history of the place alone is worth checking out.”

“Oh really?”

Val grinned and nodded excitedly. “Yeah, an old logger moved into the shack a few years after Maple Bay was established. Him and his wife lived there with his child until one day they just vanished. Year later people started saying you could hear a mother and child crying and screaming out there.” 

“Bodies never found?”

“Not a single one.”

“People go up there often?”

“Not that I know of.”

“We going up there tomorrow?”

“Absolutely.”

“At night?”

“Is there any other time to investigate spooky places in the middle of the forest where there’s no cell phone reception?”

“Taught you too well.” He raised his glass and happily clinked it against Val’s own. Going on a little Grimm hunt would be good for the both of them. It would be a fun little way to send off Val’s visit.

***

The day before Val had to leave the pair headed off to the shack. Along the way the two of them speculated a few things that could have happened to the logger and his family. “Could have been fairy folk? They just returned to the trees when their baby could woge?” suggested Val.

Robert chuckled a little. “One of them could have just been luring them away from everyone just to kill them and eat them?”

“You thinking some kind of wendigo thing?”

“I don’t like fighting native wesen and spirits Val,” said Robert. “More trouble than they are worth and most of the time there isn’t a lot of reliable written stuff about them… and some people give you really weird looks if you actively go and seek out this information if you aren’t native American.”

Val shrugged. “Fuck them. Just tell them you’re writing a book or some shit. That stuff usually works if people think you want to preserve something rather than use it to you know, trap and or murder things… Didn’t you kill a wendigo once?”

He groaned. “That was an accident.” It honestly was. He had assumed it was just a rabid mountain lion wesen. Unfortunately he was completely wrong and almost got himself eaten by a pissed off wendigo.

Val laughed a little. “Whatever you say dad.” She scrolled through her phone some more. “How about just a plain old murder suicide?

“Ah, that’s boring. Where did the bodies go then?”

“Good point.”

Robert checked how much petrol was still in his tank. Frowning a little, he pulled into the next gas station on the road. They were already pretty far away from the actual town at the moment. If Robert had to fathom a guess they were probably somewhere over the other side of the park. He couldn’t see the town at all or any large structures. The trees were way too tall for that.

He got out of the truck and started to fill it up. The station was really old, rusty and such. Heck the whole place looked like it was held together with rust and pure old world nostalgia. There was even an old vintage vending machine right out the front. The colour had faded horribly and the bottom corner looked like it was almost completely rusted through, but it looked like it was still in working order.

Val popped her head out of the truck and smiled at Robert. “Want me to go in and pay for it? You’ve been treating me with dinner and lunch all week.”

“If you like. Grab me some chips while you’re at it.”

“You got it old man.” Once Robert had filled the truck, Val happily went into the gas station with a slight skip in her step.

Robert chuckled a little and went back to sitting in his truck. He was happy that Val was so excited to do this. Heck, he was excited for this. Even if they were just going to poke around a creepy place with no actual wesen creatures skulking around. It was just fun.

He checked his phone, happy to see he had a few bars of reception still. But he frowned when he wondered if he had fed Betsy. He was pretty sure he did. He hadn’t missed feeding the lovable dope once before. Robert figured it was better to be safe than sorry and decided to give Mary a call. If he had already fed Betsy than she could a second helping. It was better than accidently letting her starve for his stupidity.

The phone rang a few times before she picked up. “What up sailor?”

“Hey Mary,” said Robert. “Listen, you got a spare house key, right? Can you go to my place and feed Betsy? I’m not super sure I fed her yet and I think she’d appreciate the company too.”

“Sure thing. Can’t let the poor pooch starve now can we? How’s your thing with Val going?”

“Pretty good. We’re at some gas station. They got one of those vintage cola vending machines out the front. Looks like the one we found at that junk yard once.”

“The one I got thrown into?”

“That’s the one.”

Mary laughed a little. “Okay Bobert. You two have fun now.”

Robert chuckled and put his phone into his pocket. He looked back at the gas station as Val walked out carrying a bag of food. She happily slid back into the passenger seat and offered him a bottle of water and some chips.

***

Soon after their call ended Mary happily went over to Robert’s place to feed Betsy. She managed to catch Damien going into his own home with groceries and invited him over too. There was no way that Damien would pass up the opportunity to pat a dog. Betsy seemed to be very thankful of the company and happily ran around their legs while they attempted to find her dog food.

Mary eventually found a can. It was the good gourmet shit. The kind that those snooty rich people would buy for their designer bred lap dogs. Robert might have treated himself like absolute shit at the best of times, but he went out of his way for Betsy. Though she was slightly alarmed at the lack of people food that was in Robert’s kitchen. 

“Think he and Val have been going out or ordering take away all week?” She asked Damien.

Damien shrugged as he changed Betsy’s water bowl. “I haven’t a clue. Maybe they have eaten all the food? Robert would usually just have to shop for himself and Val kind of appeared out of nowhere.”

Mary nodded a little and put Betsy’s food down for her. The pooch happily munched away while wagging her tail. It made her laugh. “True, but at least they seem to be getting along pretty well. Even if Robert kind of hinted that it all kind of went to shit a few times…”

“Yes well… it’s good to know he didn’t completely destroy his relationship with her.” He picked up an empty bottle of whisky and frowned a little. “Perhaps we should consider urging him to go to AA meetings… This level of drinking is probably doing a number on his liver.”

“Later,” whined Mary. “We at least gotta see how he feels after Val’s headed home. If something fucked up happens now, he’ll want to drink and mope around a bit. If things were good then we can start pushing AA pamphlets onto him.”

Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Mary went to answer it. To her surprise Val was standing there looking very confused. But Mary should have been the confused one. Wasn’t Val meant to be out with Robert right now? Where was Robert anyway?

Val laughed nervously and awkwardly scratched the back of her neck. “Oops. I think I have the wrong address. I kind of thought this was my dad’s place. Probably have the wrong cul-de-sac.”

“… What are you talking about Val?” Asked Mary. “I thought you were meant to be out with Robert. You know, a good old fashion Grimm bonding session?”

Now it was Val’s turn to look confused and concerned. “What are you talking about? Where’s my dad?” She quickly pushed past Mary and started calling out. “Dad?! Dad?! Where the hell are you?! Robert?! It’s me, Val!”

Mary followed her. “Val, what are you talking about? Seriously, Robert just called and you were with him.”

“Lady, I have no idea who you are. I only got to Maple Bay this afternoon.” Val jumped a little when she saw Damien. “Now who the heck are you and why are you dressed like a damn vampire?! What the hell are you two doing in my dad’s house?!”

Damien looked very offended. “Val, please. It’s me Damien and Mary… We have met several times over the course of this week.”

“Yeah,” said Mary. “We came over to feed your dad’s dog while you and him went out to do stuff… What is going on with you girl?”

“Me?” cried Val in shock. “You two are strangers in my dad’s house, a house where he is missing mind you, and you two are complete strangers, but I’m guessing you know about Grimm’s since you mentioned it before Miss Mary? Who the hell are you?”

Mary frowned and woged. “It’s me, Mary the fuchsbau. Damien’s a murciélago. We’ve been over this already?”

“…” Val looks suitably freaked out and pulled a switchblade out on them. “Okay you strange wesen fucks, where is my dad? If you fucking killed him I swear to fuck I am going to stab you both!”

Damien jumped back in a panic and woged himself. “Valarie, please. What has gotten into you?”

Suddenly Betsy came running over. She stared at Val for a moment before running over to her, wagging her stump tail in delight. “Boof! Boof! Boof!”

Val smiled a little at Betsy. “Not now girl, I have some wesen to take care of.”

Mary frowned and looked between Betsy and Val. “… Okay, time out. There is some serious bullshit going on here. Val, you’ve been here all week, and you said Betsy didn’t like you. Also, Damien’s kind of dating your dad so killing him would kind of be a dick move… and I am his awesome friend so don’t stab me either. Okay?”

Damien nodded a little in agreement. “She’s telling the truth… You, well at least who we suspect is you has been staying here for a week.” He gestured to the bag next to the couch.

In an instant Val was ripping into it, sending clothes and a few shoes flying everywhere until she found a wad of cards. “Ah ha!” she started shuffling through them while Damien and Mary looked over her shoulder. As it turned out they were a bunch of ID cards, all of young women. Val happened to stop on one particular one and growled. “That fucking hexenbitch! That vindictive whore!”

“What’s got you all mad?” Asked Mary.

Val glared at her. “That Val you’ve been talking with all week wasn’t me. It was this hexenbiest that’s highly skilled in the art of shape shifting. She threw me out a window a while ago. If she’s with my dad, he’s in real danger if he isn’t already dead!”


	30. Zaubertrank recipe book

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A zaubertrank recipe book is kind of like a witch's book of shadows but it's only filled with really dark, evil, extremely difficult magic that's forbidden to anyone that isn't a hexenbiest. In fact 99% of all zaubertrank's can only be open and or read by a hexenbiest and are completely useless to anyone and everyone that's not a hexenbiest.

It took a little while for Val to convince Mary and Damien that she was Val Small and not some weird wesen attempting to convince them that she was Val Small when she wasn’t. This was all so annoying for Val. The thing that possibly pissed her off the most was that her dad had gone off and done something stupid. He needed to stay on his toes in his old age.

She continued to look through the hexenbiest’s bag to see if there was anything she could use to figure out what her end game was. Val found an old heavy book bound in leather with metal bolts right at the bottom and wrapped in a thick cloth. She attempted to open it, but the pages wouldn’t budge.

Mary sighed a little at her efforts. “Val, I think that’s a zaubertrank recipe book… You’re not going to get it open.”

Val groaned and put the book down. “Do I need hexenbiest blood or something?”

She shrugged. “Probably.”

Val sighed dramatically and started to look through the rest of the house. She couldn’t believe that her dad just let a hexenbiest into his home. She could have hurt Betsy or him. Maybe he was just happy to have someone that looked like Val visiting him again? Now she felt bad for not calling him as much as she probably should have.

Val walked into the downstairs bathroom and quickly started looking for any liquids or powders that seemed out of place. There had to be something here. She had been staying with Robert for a week. There was no way she wouldn’t have prepared something nasty. Especially if she was indeed being a vindictive bitch and getting back at Val.

“What are you looking for?” Asked Mary.

“Bottles, powders. Anything weird and out of place. Check dad’s bedroom.”

“We’re on it.” Said Mary as she grabbed Damien by the forearm and dragged him deeper into the house. “Come on Dames, we’re looking for weird stuff in Robert’s room. You can raid his panty drawer.”

“Mary!” Cried out a flustered Damien. “Why must you say such things in front of Robert’s daughter?”

“I like to irritate you.”

Those two wesen were weird, but considering they didn’t immediately kill her when she met them and actually tried to calm her down she would give them some leeway. At least for now. She’d actually need to talk to Robert to confirm their stories. She pulled off the top of the toilet’s reservoir. She cringed a little, there was still some pain in her shoulder, but thanks to her being a Grimm she was recovering way faster than a normal person. She'd be back to normal in a day or two. Looking into the reservoir she was both pleased and angered to see that two small bottles at the bottom. She pulled them out and called out to the others.

“Found them!” This combined with stolen ID’s and the zaubertrank recipe book pretty much confirmed to Val that something really messed up had happened or was going to happen. She needed to know what was in those bottles.

Damien and Mary quickly showed up. Damien picked up one of the bottles and frowned at the thick brown liquid swirling around inside it. “What on earth is this?”

“Not a clue,” said Val. “Do you know a friendly hexenbiest or zauberbiest that would be willing to help us figure this out?”

There was a long pause before Mary sighed dramatically. “Fine. Looks like it’s up to me to save Robert’s dumb ass again. Grab the bottles and the zaubertrank. Time to get moving.”

Val was a little hesitant, but followed the duo out Mary’s minivan after she made sure Betsy was alright of course. Mary drove them to some run down dive of a bar called Jim and Kim’s. This looked like some awful place that Robert would hang out. Luckily there weren’t many people hanging around at this time.

She watched as Mary walked to the bar and slammed her hand down. “Hey Neil, gotta ask you something.”

The man called Neil walked over to Mary, chuckling a little. “What’s up Mary? Little early for you to be coming in isn’t it?”

She shrugged and gestured for Val to come over. “We got some things we need help with.”

Neil eyed the zaubertrank in Val’s hands and woged. He looked like a lipless, red eyed, wrinkled corpse. This man was a zauberbiest. There was no doubt about that. Despite his lipless appearance he seemed to be smirking at them, or at least the book. Val did not like it at all.

“I can see that,” he said calmly. His nostril’s flared a little as he seemed to be breathing in the book’s scent. He reached out for the book. “Can I touch it?”

“Hell no,” growled Val. “I don’t know you. I don’t trust you.”

“Don’t be rude Miss Val,” said Damien calmly. He took the book from her and handed it to Neil.

Neil brought the book to his face and breathed in its smell. “Hmmm, this is a genuine zaubertrank recipe book. Recently used too… But completely useless to everyone that isn’t a hexenbiest.” He passed it back and sighed wistfully. “We’re both technically the same but they are always the more powerful ones… You need hexenbiest blood to open it.”

“… Can you smell magic or something?” Asked Val.

He nodded. “Yep. Did you just want to know if it was a genuine zaubertrank, or did you want to know what was in those bottles you’re carrying?” Val frowned and handed over the bottles. If she didn’t do it she was sure either Mary or Damien would do it instead. He opened one of the bottles and sniffed it, pulling a face. “Yeah, that’s gross… This one is a shape shifting potion. Smells like burnt hair.”

“Burnt hair?” Asked Val.

“Yep. Shape shifting is a little hard to do, but the main ingredient is just a few strands of hair from whoever you want to change into.” He sniffed it again and coughed a little. “Gross… Considering this is pretty potent stuff I don’t think it’s just shape shifting you’re dealing with. It’s more like… becoming someone else.”

Mary frowned a little. “We talking perfect copy in appearance or like complete copy of the original?”

“Complete copy,” said Nein. He looked more than a little disgusted, but it was hard to tell in his wesen state. “Memories, internal organs, genetic diseases and all that stuff. This is pretty dark stuff. Take a swing of this and they can imitate someone for years until they move on. Scary stuff.”

Val was pissed. Hell, she was beyond pissed. She felt violated and disgusted. This wesen changed herself into her completely. She had her appearance and her memories. She wanted to scream and shout and attack that woman. That woman was a monster. She gritted her teeth and glared at Neil “What’s in the other bottle?”

Neil took a quick sniff and shuddered. “Oh boy… This is pretty messed up… You do not want to ingest this my fellow wesen, and Grimm. A drop or two of this in some water and you’re gonna get fucked up.”

“What is it?” Asked Mary.

“I guess you could say this is a fear potion? It doesn’t really target anything specific. Kind of just this massive nightmare situation,” said Nein calmly. “But throw in violent audio and visual hallucinations the likes of which the worst acid trip in the world has never seen before.”

Val frowned. “So is my dad going to think he has spiders crawling under his skin and bursting out through his eyes or something?”

“… Unless something like that happened to him when he was younger I highly doubt the bug thing will happen,” said Neil. “Look, I gotta get back to work. Is there anything else you need?”

“Yeah-” said Val. “-how do we ID the bitch that’s shape shifted? Like if she gets away again.”

“Oh that’s easy.” Neil showed them the underside of his tongue. There was a black U-shaped mark branded there. “Woged or not we all have that mark. Your shape shifter will be no different.” Someone called out for Neil over the other side of the bar and he excused himself to serve them.

With him gone, Val quickly gathered up the bottles and turned to Mary and Damien. “So, you two have any idea where my dad would be?”

Damien shrugged. “Unfortunately I was not privy to that.”

“He called me earlier,” said Mary. “He said they were at some gas station with some really old vending machine. He remembered it because I got thrown into one once… It’s that old one up on West Creek road.”

“Okay, let’s head that way,” said Val.

Damien frowned. “Now wait a moment, there was nothing more than trees out there. What could interest a Grimm out there?”

Val shrugged. “A number of things; recent animal death, murder scenes, old legends, old buildings… That kind of stuff.”

“Ah, then I can take a gander at what might have drawn their attention to that part of the woods,” said Damien. “There is a legend about an old logger’s cabin out that way.”

Mary nodded a little and headed back out to her van. “Oh that place. Is it still standing?”

Damien shrugged. “Perhaps. I am not sure.”

Val quickly climbed in as they started to drive away. “Logger’s cabin?”

“It’s this old legend,” said Damien. “There was this man who lived with his wife and child in the woods. The family vanished one night and no one knows what happened to them. Truth be told they were actually blutbads and had decided to live as such instead of humans.”

Val frowned a little. “Really? No offence but why would you always want to live as wesen? Aren’t you all animalistic in wesen form?”

“We are,” said Damien. “But there is some comfort in being able to relinquish our humanity and give in to our more primal instincts. Especially if circumstances deem life as a human impossible to continue.”

Val nodded a little and looked out the window. Everything that was happening to her dad was really messed up. If this hexenbiest had her memories and was essentially a perfect copy of herself then there was no way Robert wouldn’t trust her. He probably shared Grimm secrets with her or worse, an actual emotional connection. 

She was going to stab that bitch if that was the case. Val had been wanting that kind of connection for years with him. This was meant to be her chance to see how well he was doing. Not rescue him. Somehow they would always seem to mess things up and get involved with strange and unusual things. This had to be some curse that all Grimm’s had to face.

“Hang on dad,” she muttered. “We’re going to find you.”

***

Robert and Val made it to the shack around dusk. It looked better than Robert expected; most of its roof was still up and it didn’t seem to be missing any walls on the outside. He had no idea how stable it actually was, but it still looked pretty cool. He smiled a little and looked over at Val.

“So, this is the place?”

“This is the place.” She walked over to the front door and gave it a shove. It creaked and groaned as some of the wood splintered off the hinges, but it was still stuck fast. “… Help?”

Robert shook his head and gave the door a swift kick, forcing it open. Despite the years of wood rot that tried to glue it in place it would never be as strong as him. “You got to kick,” he reminded Val. “Your leg’s got some big muscles in them so use them.”

“I know dad,” she said. “But I know you just love showing off when you can.” Val walked past him and started to look around. “Bet there are so many ghosts in here.”

“Probably. Ghosts seem to be attracted to creepy places.” Robert noted that most of the things had been trashed by local teens and stray wildlife. It was probably a popular spot for local teens on Halloween. That was if the spray painted pentagrams were anything to go by, and even then they were the wrong kind of pentagrams. “Why do people draw them like this?”

“Because drawing a five pointed star upside down requires brain power?” Suggested Val.

“Sounds about right.” Robert took his flash light out and looked around. “Just be lucky you weren’t around when Satanic Panic was a thing.”

“More badly drawn pentagrams?”

“That and wesen being little shits pretending to be demons to fuck around with teenagers,” muttered Robert. “It was annoying and kind of fucked up.” He opened up an old looking drawer and had a quick look around. Someone left an old cigarette pack and a few dead beetles.

Val nodded in agreement and went to look in another room. “Damn us young people.”

Robert chuckled a little and continued to look around. There was nothing super strange, unsettling or wesen related in this place. It was just nice to spend time with Val like this. When she was younger Robert often took her to supposedly haunted, but overall safe places, for a little bit of Grimm training. She would be a little on edge, but more open to listening to him.

Marilyn was not happy that Robert was doing these things, but it was a nicer and safer way than what his old man did with him. Which included but was not exclusive to; throwing him into the fray with a pocket knife, beating him with a belt when he got Grimm and or wesen facts wrong, and continuously telling him he was going to die before he reached adulthood if he didn’t man up. He was essentially giving Val what her grandfather would consider a watered down version.

But screw that old man. He was off in Florida now doing whatever old people did. Play bridge? Endless bingo? He had no idea. Robert didn’t feel any anger towards his dad for the way he taught him. He had his reasons. Being born a Grimm was tough and he needed to be tough. Still, Robert had decided early on in his young adulthood that he wasn’t going to lay a hand on a child the same way his father had on him.

He sighed a little and moved a fallen plank off of some ruble, sending dust flying everywhere. Robert coughed and sneezed a little. “Damn dust…”

Val poked her head back into the room and held out a water bottle, shaking it. “Water?”

“Thanks.” He took the bottle and drank. “Want it back?”

“Nah, you keep it.” She sighed a little and scratched the back of her neck. “Doesn’t look like there’s anything too interesting in here besides teenage vandalism. Want to have a poke around outside? Might find a tree with one of those this guy hearts this girl carved into it.”

“Most romantic way to let people know you carry a knife.”

“Yep.” Val walked outside and Robert quickly followed. 

It was quickly getting dark outside and Robert wondered if he should suggest they head home and grab some overly oily Chinese food for dinner. Then again Val would probably call him an old man and make him feel old. He wasn’t that old. Okay he was pretty old, but he didn’t want his daughter reminding him of that.

Val walked around the side of the house and laughed. “Ah ha! Found one on the house. T.B + L.Q 1997… Wonder if those two are still together?”

“Not sure.” He walked over to her and quickly finished off the rest of the water Val had given him. There wasn’t much left anyway. He had a look to see if he could see any more of those cliché carvings. “Do the kids not have anything better to do these days?”

“It’s either vandalize things or underage, unprotected sex, and teen pregnancy.”

“At least I never had to worry about that with you.”

“… Dad, you didn’t know I was a lesbian until I told you when I was sixteen. Even then you were really drunk and talking about mothman and how he is bullshit. Surprised you remembered that part actually.”

“Me too. I surprise even myself sometimes.” He yawned a little, suddenly feeling fatigued. It depressed Robert with how old he was getting. Hardly even dark and he was starting to nod off. “Speaking of surprises… I think your old man is getting just a little too old…”

“What? Feeling tired?”

“Yeah… Do you think you can drive the truck back home?” Robert stumbled a little as his center of gravity was suddenly thrown off. It was like one of the worst cases of vertigo he had ever experienced in his life. He fell to the ground and blacked out.

***

Robert groaned a little as he sat up. He still felt a little dizzy, but it was quickly fading. He looked around and found that Val was nowhere in sight. There was however, a car. Twisted and mangled. Robert was confused and tried to stand up but he found his legs hurt almost too much. He had a gash in his thigh and chunks of glass were everywhere.

Looking back at the wreckage he felt his stomach drop. There were drag marks leading from the driver’s window to where Robert had been sitting now, and the make and model of the car was way too similar for him to ignore. It was the crash. He was at the crash again. 

As he stared at the horrific scene in front of him he heard a noise coming from the passenger side. Robert’s heart leapt into his throat as he slowly pulled himself to his feet and over to the other side. Much to his shock and horror it was his wife. She was still alive and kicking. Kind of.

She looked up at him with desperation in her eyes. “Robert… Please… Help me. I need a hospital…”

Robert stared at her unable to speak. Marilyn was still there and needed him. She needed him to save her. He had to save her. She needed him. Was it real? Was it fake? Did it matter? It didn’t seem to anymore. At least not to him right now. He wanted to save her. He had to. Nothing else mattered at this point.

“Robert…” whimpered Marilyn as she reached out for him. “Please… Help me.”

He scooped her up in his arms and held her close. “It’s okay Marilyn. I’ll protect you. I’ll save you… I’ll save you… I won’t let anything happen to you…”


	31. Madness in the woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blame my girlfriend for this chapter. I bounced some ideas off her and asked her several questions to generate this chapter. Babe, when and if you get around to reading this I love you and thanks for the twisted ideas <3

Robert felt like he was walking around in circles. There should have been a road around here somewhere. He needed to flag down a car and get Marilyn to a hospital. She wasn’t dead but she sure as hell was close to it. She was weak and hardly moving in his arms.

“Come on Marilyn, stay with me,” he pleaded. “Keep your eyes open and talk to me.”

“Robert…” she murmured. “Please, keep me safe… We’ll get through this, together. Right?”

“Yeah, we will. I just need to find a road. I’ll save you. I won’t let you die. It’ll be okay.” He continued to walk around, trying his hardest to try and find something, anything that could help them escape the forest and get to a hospital.

He needed to save Marilyn. She was the only thing in this world that mattered to him. He had to get her to a hospital soon. He couldn’t stop moving. If he stopped she could die. He couldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t let it happen. He would save her. She was all that mattered.

She coughed a little, lightly clinging to Robert’s shirt. “Robert…” she murmured. “It’s getting so dark… You need to rest a moment. You’re limping. You can’t carry me for much longer.”

“If I stop now I might not be able to keep going. Besides I don’t think we can wait too long to get you some medical help.”

She laughed a little at him. “I’m fine love. I think I twisted my ankle a little and maybe busted my ribs… possible whiplash too, but otherwise I’m fine. I can’t taste blood.”

“… Just because you feel okay now doesn’t mean you are okay. We got seriously fucked up in that crash. Plus you’re a normal human. You’re more squishy than I am.” 

Something rustled behind them and made Robert turned his head. Standing just off in the distance was something. It could have been a man if said man didn’t know what a man was supposed to look like. It looked wrong. It was big with arms too long for its body. Its eyes were pure black and it seemed to be staring him down. It let out an unholy growl before wandering back into the trees and out of view.

“My god…” Whispered Marilyn. “What was that?”

Robert held Marilyn closer and gritted his teeth. If she was able to see that monster than whatever wesen it was didn’t care if it was being seen. It was probably feral. Reverted back to its natural wesen state with all humanity stripped away. It was dangerous. It probably heard the crash and followed whatever blood trail the two of them had left behind.

He gently placed Marilyn down, leaning her against a tree trunk and looked for something to defend themselves from the feral wesen. “It’s okay Marilyn,” he tried to reassure her. “I’ll protect us from it… From whatever it is.”

“Thank you… What are you looking for? You already have your machete in your hands.”

Robert looked down at his hands and to his surprise he did indeed have his go to weapon of choice in his hands. He didn’t recall taking it out of the car. In fact he couldn’t even recall putting it in that car in the first place. When did he start carrying it anyway? He’d been using both hands to carry his wife this whole time.

Never the less he was thankful to have it. He wasn’t going to question it. It was just luck that he managed to have it with him. As much as he doubted the existence of a higher deity or creator, he had to admit if one had magically gifted him the knife he wasn’t going to complain.

“It’s okay Marilyn. I’ll take care of it… and once it’s dead we can get out of here. I’ll get you to a hospital… I’ll save you. I’ll save you. I swear I will.”

***

Val was starting to feel sick with worry. She had no idea what that bitch had done to her dad or what lies she had filled his head with. Neil had given her some clarification with the potions but she didn’t really know what the end game was. Was that bitch going to traumatize him and then kill him? It disgusted her. Sure her dad had done some shitty things in the past but none of them were worthy of death.

“Are you okay?” Asked Damien. “You seem awfully quiet…”

She didn’t really know what to make of Damien. He had said that he was her dad’s boyfriend. Did this mean Robert had been a closeted gay man this whole time? Part of her hoped that wasn’t the case. She at least wanted to believe that her parents wholeheartedly loved each other till the end. Bi, pan or something in between would sit better with her.

Her dad’s sexuality aside, Val just didn’t know if she had good or bad feelings about Damien. He was a murciélago for crying out loud. His kind wasn’t going to be winning the kindest wesen of the year awards any time soon. He also seemed to be the guy she had specifically told Robert to stay away from because of his bloody family history. He could have been luring Robert into a false sense of security before he pounced and ripped out his throat.

“I’m fine… Just worried.”

Mary made some dismissive noise. “Your dad’s tough as nails. Whatever fucked up thing that crazy bitch has cooked up for him isn’t going to destroy him.”

“… You’re Mary, right?” Asked Val. “The same one my dad used to hang out with when he was younger?”

“Yep.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about. The things he’s seen, the things he has done…” She shuddered a little. “If we are talking about simple, primal terror I’m sure he has many of those fears, but the ones I’m most concerned about are the ones he blocks out with alcohol.” He had told her once that he sometimes drinks to forget the worst memories. It got worse after her mother had died. 

Mary huffed a little. “He’s almost died lord knows how many times. How bad can his worst fear be?”

“Mary, please-” Damien looked tired and irritated. “- I doubt dying is the biggest fear Robert has. We both know he is more than a little reckless on a good day… If I were to take a stab at his biggest fears it would be something to do with losing your family. I know losing Lucien is my biggest fear.”

“Dude, you almost murdered Robert when you thought he snuffed your kid.”

Val stared wide eyed at Damien. “You what?”

“It was a misunderstanding.” Said Damien quickly. “We easily sorted it all out. My point still stands… When you’ve lost a close family member you cling to all you have left…”

His words sent chills up Val’s spine. She didn’t want to imagine the pain her dad was going through if his fears manifested themselves in a familial form. Both of them had experienced more than enough family trauma to last a life time.

Suddenly Mary stopped the van. “Okay chumps, we’re here.”

Val quickly got out and looked around her new surroundings. They were in some parking lot by a walking trail. One of those dirt parking lots that had a general parking area but no actual lines. She immediately saw Robert’s truck and raced over to it. She still had a set of keys to his truck from when he was teaching her to drive. She quickly opened it up and quickly looked to see if there was anything strange or abnormal in it.

It still smelt like stale cigarettes and cheap booze. Unmistakably the scent that clung to Robert almost constantly. She opened the glove box and was happy to see that there was no bottle of booze fermenting in there, but then again he could have just taken it with him. That annoyed her a little. Val checked under the seats to see if he had taken is machete with him. It was gone. She was relieved that he still had enough sense to take it with him even if the place they had gone to was supposedly safe.

“What are you looking for?” Asked Mary as she woged to to wesen form.

“Just looking… What are you doing?”

“One of us has to pick up Robert’s scent and track him down.” She said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She casually pulled the head rest off the driver’s seat. “I’m taking this with me. I need it.” She sniffed it a few times and started to walk down the trail, following his scent.

Val sighed a little and reluctantly followed behind her. This was technically just another normal day for her as a Grimm; go to meet someone, they aren’t there, find some clues, and tag along with people she doesn’t know to find them. She just didn’t expect it to be her dad this time. It was tiring.

Damien lightly nudged her, smiling softly at her. “It’s okay Val. We will find Robert.”

“Thanks… So are you really dating my dad?”

“Yes… I hope you are not put off by his choice of partner,” he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “A Grimm dating a wesen is probably disturbing to you…”

“Actually my girlfriend is a wesen too.” Said Val calmly. “I’m more surprised that my dad is bi.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Look, as long as you don’t try and kill my dad, again, we’re cool. He’s an adult and can make his own decisions… That being said you hurt him I will stab you.”

“… Fair enough.”

Suddenly Mary stopped and held up her hand. Val stood frozen in place and looked over to where Mary was looking. The wind was quietly rustling through the trees and there wasn’t really anything she could see properly. But Val knew from experience that she should believe a wesen’s sight more than hers.

That chose to be a good move as moments later a woman who looked exactly like Val walked out from the trees and back onto the path. She looked very pleased with herself until she saw Mary, Damien, and Val. Within seconds Val hand jumped her and started beating the shit out of her. Manicured nails be damned this bitch had stolen her face and did who knows what to Robert.

“Fuck you!” She yelled at her. “Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!”

The hexenbiest attempted to fight back but her attempts were quickly rendered invalid when Val body slammed her to the ground and pinned her. Val was pissed at her not just for doing something to her dad, but this bitch threw her out a window.

“Get the fuck off me you sniveling whore!” Snapped the hexenbiest as she woged.

“What the fuck did you do to my dad you bitch?” Snarled Val. She was not in the mood to mess around. “Where is he?”

The hexenbiest stared at her in surprise for a moment and then laughed at her. “Your dad? That pathetic, broken alcoholic? Truth be told I would have thought you would have been singing my praises for getting rid of that train wreck.”

Val growled and punched her in the face, smirking a little when blood gushed out of her nose. “Where the fuck is my dad you sick bitch?”

The hexenbiest groaned a little, looking slightly dazed now. “He’s a shitty bastard and you know it. Fuck him. You wanted to get to know him again? Don’t. He’s a drunken bastard that sleeps around with people, completely betraying the memory of your mother.” She smirked at Val, a vicious gleam in her eyes. “But if you’re so desperate to see him he’s still stumbling around somewhere around here. Just don’t get too close. He’s not too friendly to the living anymore.”

“What the fuck did you do to him?!” Val was more than a little pissed off. She was seconds away from smashing this woman’s face in. “What horrible thing are you making him live through?”

She started laughing. “You should know, shouldn’t you? Your piece of shit dad is drowning in guilt and has a terrible hero complex. Now which situation did your fuck up of a dad fail to save someone and feel extremely guilty about? Maybe it’s something that made him start drinking his own weight in whiskey every day?”

“… You bitch. You vindictive, disgusting bitch!”

“Whatever. You’ll never snap him out of it.” The hexenbiest smirked in triumph. “Consider my revenge complete.”

“Oh fuck that.” Val punched the hexenbiest again. “You’re going to tell me where the fuck my dad is right this second or you’re gonna get ripped apart!”

“By who? You? Bitch please you don’t have the claws for it.”

Val clenched and unclenched her jaw in frustration. “I might not be able to, but I have a fuchsbau and a murciélago here that rather like my dad and want him to stay alive way more than I probably do. Think you can handle all three of us trying to rip into you?”

The hexenbiest thought for a moment before sighing heavily. “Fine. Last I saw your old man he was carrying a log around while muttering shit about getting to a hospital. But I got the fuck out of there when he decided to get into a knife fight with a bear.”

“…” Val grabbed hold of the woman’s thumb and quickly snapped it back, breaking it.

“FUCK!” She screamed. “What the fuck was that you fucking bitch?!”

Val pulled her to her feet and twisted an arm behind her back. “You are going to show us where you left my dad. If the bear killed him you can be damn sure I will kill you.”

“God damn it fuck!” she snapped. “I fucking hate you!”

“You should have known this would happen.” Growled Val. “You should have just killed me while I was passed out. Instead you had to be the super villain and have some grand revenge plan. You should know that wesen shouldn’t try and play with monsters.”

The trio followed the hexenbiest through the woods, past the shack, over a small stream, and through a small thicket. During this time Damien himself had shifted to his wesen form too. He argued that his hearing would probably be able to pick Robert’s movements just as quickly as Mary’s smell.

Soon Mary became distressed and pointed off to the right direction. “Over there…” she muttered. “I can smell blood… Lots of it.”

Val quickly twisted the hexenbiest’s arm to make her turn and the group quickly came across the eviscerated carcass of a bear. The things head was completely hacked off and several feet away from the rest of its torn up body. It was like someone had pulled its skin off like wrapping paper. The beheading Val could chalk up to her dad, but the rest of it, she wasn’t sure.

The hexenbiest let out a small nervous laugh. “Well looks like he survived the bear attack… Guess a fucked up Grimm is more dangerous than I thought… anyone else notice this guy’s missing a paw?”

Val rolled her eyes and put slight pressure on the hexenbiest’s broken thumb, making her squeal. “What the fuck did you think was going to happen when you drugged a Grimm? Idiot. Can you hear my dad anywhere Damien?”

Damien’s bat ears swiveled around a little as he searched for any sound. “… Over there…” He pointed a bit off to the left. Damien looked more than a little distressed. “Please be okay…”

Val sighed and pushed the hexenbiest, forcing the group forward. Eventually the group found Robert off in the distance. He looked like he was injured from his fight with the bear by the way he was limping. In one arm he carried his bloodied machete and in the other he was holding a rather large misshapen log.

While they were a safe distance away Val asked Damien the question she wasn’t sure she wanted answered. “What is he saying? If he is saying anything at all…”

Damien hesitated a little and started to quote what he could hear Robert saying. “It’s okay Marilyn. I’m okay. I’ll get you to a hospital. I can save you… Just hang in there.”

Val felt like her heart was getting ripped out. Of course her dad would be reliving the final moments between him and Marilyn. In his more drunken state he had often talked about how he could have done something to save her. He’d do anything to redo the whole event and make sure she was safe. The hexenbiest seemed to notice Val’s sudden lack of attention and slammed her heel hard into Val’s toes.

“MOTHER FUCKER!!!” The hexenbiest quickly slipped out of Val’s grip and bolted for it, aiming to make as much distance between them as possible. Val growled and went to chase after her but Mary stopped her. “The fuck Mary?!”

She pointed back to Robert who was no staring back at them with glossed over eyes. “I think Robert knows we’re here.”

***

More of these things. This forest was full of them. Twisted abominations. Feral creatures. He had already fought off one of those things. Took its head clean off. It was after them. It was going to hurt Marilyn. He couldn’t have that. His kill must have attracted more of these feral wesen. They flocked to blood like flies to shit.

There were three of them; some canine thing all hunched over with thick clumps of fur sporadically spaced around her scabby and scaly muzzle. Did she have rabies? She was frothing at the mouth something fierce. A bat thing whose snout looked like it was mutilated with a razor blade, scarred over and then scratched up with a cheese grater. Thick globs of bloodied saliva dripped from his lips and down his chin. The final one was something that looked like it could have been human once, but it was way too emaciated to even be considered a starving human.

Very carefully he put Marilyn down. “Robert? What are you doing?” She asked. “There are too many for you to take on by yourself. We have to run. We have to get out of here. Please.”

“It’ll be okay.” He reassured her. “I’ll protect you Marilyn… No one is going to hurt you. I promised you that on our wedding day… Nothing is going to hurt you… I’ll save you. I’ll save you.”

He ran towards them, more than willing and able to attack those monsters. He was not going to let a single one hurt Marilyn. He took a swipe at the canine woman, but the emaciated one shoved her out of the way. She had fast reflexes. That was bad, but interesting. She would be a challenge. 

He took a swipe at her but she dodged. Seconds later the bat and the canine struck Robert across the back and head with rock and a branch respectively. He was stunned for a moment, but quickly brought out of it when he heard Marilyn’s terrified screams. 

“Stay away” She cried. “Robert! Save me! Please!”

He quickly spun around and saw the bat creature was moving towards Marilyn. It was going to attack her. It was going to kill her. Marilyn couldn’t defend herself. He had to save her. He had to. He couldn’t let a wesen take her. 

“Stay the fuck away from her you bastard!” He lunged at him and only just narrowly missed stabbing him, managing to slice his cloak instead. He was wearing a cloak? Why was he wearing a cloak? Normal people didn’t do that. But didn’t he know someone who did that? Maybe. He couldn’t place it. It didn’t matter. Only Marilyn mattered. He had to save her. This thing had to die.

Suddenly the emaciated one was in front of him. She head butted him and yanked him forwards, kneeing him hard in the guts. Robert was winded pretty badly from that. He fell to his knees and the canine woman quickly pulled the machete out of his hands. 

Gasping for air, Robert knew he was beaten. His whole body was wrecked from fighting that other thing earlier. This whole place was filled with feral wesen. He and Marilyn never stood a chance. He crawled over to Marilyn and held her close to his chest. “I’m sorry Marylin…”

“I-I don’t want to die.” She whimpered. “Please Robert. Please you have to keep fighting. You need to save me. Please… I don’t want to die!”

“I know… I’m sorry…” He gently rocked her in his arms. “Fuck… Val still needs us. She needs you… I have to save you for her sake…”

“I don’t want to die.”

He gently squeezed her arm and looked up at the creatures that had cornered him. The emaciated one walked towards him and started him down with its hollow sockets and slack jawed expression. It tilted its head slightly and a clump of burnt hair fell from its skull. 

He was going to die. He and Marilyn were finished. He couldn’t fight three of them with no weapon. He could only hope that they were quick. He couldn’t bear to see Marilyn die a slow death. He held her close. “I’m sorry… It looks like this is the end…” 

“It’s time to let her go…” Crackled the creature. It crouched down in front of him, gently putting its hand on Robert’s. “It wasn’t your fault. You have to let her go. Let her rest.”

Robert’s vision felt blurry. It was like two different TV shows were both simultaneously trying to play with different pitched audio. It was giving him a splitting headache, but he couldn’t just tune it out. “N-no…” He groaned. He clung on tighter to Marilyn. “I have to save her… I can’t let her go again…”

The creature gently squeezed Robert’s hand, causing him to look down at it. Its hand was surprisingly warm and soft. It was almost comforting. “Please,” it said. Its voice sounded higher pitched and more feminine now. “Please dad… You have to let mum go. Let her rest.” 

He looked up at the creature and saw the creature’s face morphed and changed into that of Val’s. Her eyes were blood shot and her cheeks were glossy with tears. Robert felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach as he glanced down at what he had though was Marilyn. He had been carrying around a log. He dropped it.

“It’s okay dad.” Val said quietly. “It wasn’t your fault. None of it was your fault. I know mum forgives you. She would never blame you for an accident… Let’s go home.”

Suddenly Robert’s cheeks felt damp. He touched his face, surprised to see that he was crying. How long had he been crying? He wasn’t sure. Had he been like this the whole time? What was the time? He felt sick and tired. Robert’s emotions were running higher than they usually were to the point where it was almost unbearable.

“Dad? Are you okay?” 

For the first time in a long time Robert wrapped his arms around his daughter and wept.

***

The hexenbiest, satisfied she had put enough distance between them had collapsed on a rock by a river. She was relieved and extremely pissed. She had never been a very good fighter when people caught her by surprise. Next time she was just going to have to strike where it really hurt. She still knew everything Val knew. So she was going to go back to Boston and murder Val’s girlfriend, Megan. That would be satisfactory revenge for attacking her and breaking her thumb.

“”She’ll be thrown into so much mental anguish she’ll fall into a deep depression,” she giggled. “And then she’ll eventually realize that all hope is lost. There is no happiness for a Grimm and she will commit suicide.”

That thought delighted her to no end. Physical torture was one thing but the real fun was all psychological. She could just imagine Val taking a handful of sleeping pills and never waking up, or hanging herself in her living room. Maybe throwing herself off a bridge or slitting her wrists. She got a twisted kick out of this.

A twig snapped.

She quickly looked back at the trees and saw someone. There were wearing all black with their hoodie up so it was hard to tell any precise features. But he was carrying something large and kind of furry in his hand. The moon light shimmering through the trees caught on the furry shape. Much to the hexenbiest’s horror it was the missing bear paw. It had a few bloody chunks missing from it. Like this person had been eating it.

She chuckled nervously. She wasn’t too sure what to make of this person. “Ah, I see… so that was you, huh? That drunk fuck cut off its head and you went after an easy meal? Raw meat can’t possibly be good for you. Cook the damn thing before you eat it.”

The person did nothing but stare at her. They seemed a little skittish, unsure if they should approach her or not. They must have been a relatively young wesen. Perfect for just a little manipulation. She could use them to get back to Maple Bay and grab the stuff she left at Robert’s place.

“Hey, maybe you can help me out? I’m a little lost and I hurt myself.” She tried to stand up but ended up slipping and grazing her arm. “Shit. Ouch…” 

The figure suddenly tensed up and dropped the bear paw. Maybe the smell of blood put them off, or it could have been her moving so suddenly. They started to get twitchy and really agitated to the point where their whole body was shaking.

“… Are you okay?” The hexenbiest was quickly starting to become worried for her safety.

Suddenly the person let out a disturbing series of clicks, growls, and unholy screeches and launched themselves at her. The hexenbiest had no time to move as this person sunk their claws into her arms and started to bite chunks of flesh out of her face and neck, eagerly gulping them down with a satisfied sigh.


	32. The Camel's back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who has stuck with this so far. I appreciate every single one of you. I only ask that you either leave a kudos or a comment. Writing something this long, it worries me that I'm actually just boring people and I would really like and appreciate the feedback you all might like to give. 
> 
> Despite my inactivity with responding to comments I really do enjoy reading them and interacting with you all when you ask questions and stuff.
> 
> Sorry if this all sounds a little needy. I'm just a writer that likes getting feedback :P

It had taken a while for Val to calm Robert down and explain what had happened. He felt terrible for attacking them and completely stupid for falling for the tricks of some hexenbiest. Val had tried to explain that the potion they used gave them all of her memories along with her appearance. It didn’t seem to make him feel any better. She drove him home in the truck while Mary and Damien followed in the van.

He didn’t say anything as Val and the others quickly cleaned up the mess that they had made going through the hexenbiest’s stuff. She couldn’t help but glance over at him every now and then as they cleaned and worried. Everything had to have been very emotionally draining for him. She’d stay with him tonight. He shouldn’t be alone.

When everything was all taken care of, Val ushered them out of the house. “Thanks for looking out for my dad… It means a lot to me to know he’s not completely alone out here.”

Mary grinned. “Think nothing of it. If you need any help with anything Dames and I literally live in the houses next door to you.”

“Thanks…” Val looked down at the zaubertrank recipe book she’d been carrying around. She didn’t want to keep it in the house. She knew that it was just an over glorified paper weight without hexenbiest blood, but she still wanted it gone. “Could one of you take this? Please? After all this shit I don’t want it around me or my dad.”

Damien smiled a little and took it from her. “Understandable. I’ll find a spot for it in my library. I hope you do not mind, Mary?”

She shook her head. “Nah, you keep it. I don’t want my kids finding it and asking questions. That’ll drive my husband crazy.”

“Just get rid of it,” said Val. “The sooner it’s gone the better.”

Damien nodded a little. “Of course, but please, we are more than willing to help if you and Robert need help… We don’t want to see either of you in strife.”

Val thanked them again for their help and went back to check on Robert. Betsy had found her way onto his lap and was doing her best to try and make him feel better. She wagged her tail excitedly when she saw Val and started barking at her. She smiled a little and sat next to Robert and gave Betsy a few pats.

He chuckled a little. “Should have known it wasn’t you. Betsy wouldn’t even approach the hexenbiest. Should have taken that as a sign something wasn’t right.”

“It’s an honest mistake dad,” she said calmly. “Anyone could have made it.”

“I shouldn’t have made that mistake.”

Val struggled with finding the right words to say. “I’m not mad at you. You wouldn’t have had to go through this shit if I just listened to Megan. She told me to wait but I went ahead and got my ass beaten by that hexenbiest, and then she decided to fuck with me by fucking with you… I’m sorry dad.”

“Megan’s your girlfriend, right?”

“Yeah.”

“She’s good to you?

“Yep.”

“You love each other?”

“Of course.”

“… I’m glad. You deserve happiness.”

Val smiled a little and gently squeezed his hand. “You do too dad. Damien told me you two are dating. He seems like a nice guy. Kind of odd with his Victorian aesthetic, but he seems nice enough.”

“Yeah, he’s a good guy.” He scratched Betsy behind one of her ears. “Do you think your mum would approve?”

“The dating a guy thing or dating a wesen thing?”

“… I don’t know. I think mum would want you to be happy and to stop worrying about these kinds of things.” She patted his back a little. “Dad, pop… no matter what you and Damien are doing I know she’s okay with it. You aren’t disrespecting her memory by getting back into dating. I think she’d kick your ass if you decided not to start dating again.”

He chuckled a little. “Yeah, she probably would… You okay with me being with someone else?”

“Of course. I just want you to be happy dad.”

“Thanks… I’m gonna head off to bed. You can go back to wherever you’re staying.”

“I’ll be right here dad. I’m not leaving you alone tonight.” This was not how she planned on spending her first night with her dad, but it was better than nothing.

***

Mary entered her house and sighed heavily. She had no idea what the exact time was but after everything that happened she was just glad it was all over. She had never seen Robert like that before. He was like a wild animal with nothing to lose and he just completely broke down in a matter of seconds. It was horrifying, especially when he took a swing at them. What on earth did he think he was attacking?

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a rather unhappy man clearing his throat. “Do you have any idea what time it is Mary?” Asked Joseph.

Mary shrugged and looked down at her wrist. She didn’t have a watch but made a well educated guess. “Let’s see… half past a monkey’s ass?”

“It’s almost midnight,” corrected Joseph. “Have you been out drinking again? You said you were just going out to feed Robert’s dog. It would have been nice if you had called to let me know. The kids were worried about you.”

Mary could feel a small bit of anger bubbling up inside her. “Maybe now you know what it feels like when I have to tell the kids that daddy is working late when he’s screwing some guy on his yacht.”

“That is not fair.”

“Fuck off it is.” She marched past him and into the kitchen. She was much to sober for this. She took an already opened bottle out of the fridge and drank a mouthful. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Joseph giving her a disapproving look. “What? This is my first drink of the night. I was out doing other stuff tonight.”

Joseph didn’t look like he believed her at all. “Then what were you out doing?”

She rolled her eyes and drank some more. “If you must know I was hanging out with the local Grimm again.” Mary delighted in the way that Joseph’s usual calm composure seemed to waver. “He’s lots of fun to be around.”

He glared at her and crossed his arms. “You really shouldn’t be around him so much Mary. I know you two used to be friends but things aren’t so simple anymore. Whatever thing you two had is over.”

From the way he was talking it kind of sounded like he was jealous, or he thought that she and Robert were up to something. “Wow, you’re insecure. I’m not a whore that sleeps around with whoever makes me wet. If that were the case I would have done it with the whole cast of the Avengers. That Scarlet Joe…” She sipped her wine. “Unlike you I use a thing called a brain and I have morals that allow me to think and know it’s wrong to sleep with whoever I feel like. Unlike you.”

Joseph sigh a little, tired of this conversation. “Mary, we have been over this. Sometimes it is very hard to control my wesen side. I can’t be held accountable if I sleep with someone because I lose control.”

“Oh, so you’re not using the excuse that I don’t put out enough for you to calm your out of control libido?” She walked past him and sat on the couch. She wondered if she could watch some late night infomercials or if Joseph would try and continue this conversation.

Joseph sat on the couch across from her and sighed heavily. He wasn’t going to just let this end. “Mary… We need to talk about this. I am worried about your involvement with Robert. He’s a Grimm. Things could get really bad if things go wrong for him. You have four kids to think of Mary. You can’t go running off on dangerous adventures with him.”

Mary shrugged. “Why not? I have a sizable life insurance. You’d tidy up pretty well if I suddenly dropped dead.”

“… Mary, are you suicidal?”

“What? No. I was just saying it wouldn’t really matter if I died.” She smirked a little at him. “Well you’d have to spend pretty much all your time with them. No free time to seduce and sleep with other men. But at least if you did then you wouldn’t be committing a sin against god, if you even really believe in him anymore.” Even she had to admit she felt a little bad going after his religion, but that was usually a sure fire way of ending a conversation with him.

Joseph clenched his jaw and got up to leave the room. “We’ll talk about this in the morning. Come to bed soon. I don’t want the kids to come downstairs and find you wasted on the couch.”

“Easier to explain that than explaining that mummy is tired of daddy fucking other daddies because he can’t keep his dick in his pants.”

“Says the woman who is sneaking off to do lord knows what with the local Grimm.”

Mary was tired of his hypocrisy. “Out of the two of us only one of us have had sex with him, and whoever it was decided to tattoo him. Now which one of us knows how to tattoo another person?”

“…”

“Yeah, I thought so,” she muttered. Mary took another mouthful of wine. “Robert and I were and have always been just friends. Besides, he’s dating Damien now anyway… and if you can’t keep it in your pants around Robert while he and Damien are together I will pull an; I spit on your grave, and cut your dick off and let you bleed to death in a bath tub.”

Joseph sighed again and walked out of the room. Mary just rolled her eyes and happily polished off her wine. This wasn’t going to be the last time they had an argument like this. They always had arguments like this. Neither of them liked it but they just stuck with it. It was stupid and toxic and harmful but neither of them seemed strong enough to completely pull away.

She sighed a little and closed her eyes, letting the warmth of the alcohol wash over her. She needed to leave Joseph. She felt sick being around him and couldn’t keep up the happy house wife shtick anymore. Tomorrow she was definitely going to make him sign the divorce papers. Screw her excuse of waiting for the kids to woge. No amount of emotional distress was worth that.


	33. Coffee and Cadavers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what always fills the void of mental trauma? Coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. JK therapy is usually the best course of action. Coffee is still a close second.

Robert still felt awful for what he had done and had fallen into a spiral of sever self-loathing and depression. Things were made a little easier with Val sticking around to take care of him. By the third day he was able to pull himself out of bed and actually walk around the house. Both Betsy and Val were ecstatic to see him, but it honestly just made him feel guilty.

He was the adult the parent. He needed to have his shit together. The only thing that made him feel a little better was Val telling him that everything was okay. That what he was going through was normal. It was nice, but it still made him feel guilty. He wanted to drink, but Val had gotten rid of most of his usual alcohol. Smart move.

He had gotten a little better at dealing with his feelings and didn’t really feel that he should drink till he blacked out and forgot everything, but he wanted to. He really wanted to. He had to settle for tap water or maybe some juice. It was all Val would give him.

“… I’m sorry I fucked up again.” He said to her. “You shouldn’t deal with this shit.”

Val smiled a little at him. “It’s okay dad. Everyone makes mistakes.”

“I guess… But I seem to make more mistakes than most.”

Val looked a little dejected that she had to keep looking after him in his fragile mental state. It made Robert feel terrible for putting her through this. He had to smile and be the adult. Not show unnecessary weakness. Weakness was bad. It was always bad.

“How about we go out for coffee?” He suggested. “I know this place called The Coffee Spoon. I um, I took the fake you there a few days ago. She seemed to like it alright. You might too?”

She smiled a little. Val seemed happy that he was the one that suggested that they leave the house. “Sounds like a plan.”

***

When they got to The Coffee Spoon, Val commented on how Megan would love the décor and quirky drink names. Robert was glad that she liked it. It was nice to share this place with her. Maybe now they could actually share a bit of father daughter bonding without everything turning out wrong. It was a bit of a stretch, but he could try.

They ordered their drinks and Val made a beeline for the table Robert usually sat at. She truly was his daughter. He should have second guessed that other one. She let him choose where to sit. They made polite conversation and informed the other about how things were going for each of them.

Robert told her about all the wesen he had encountered so far and how easy his life had become since he had moved here. Sure there was the occasional drama but it was still relatively easy going. He’d only been in a life threatening situation about three times in the few months he had been there. It was one hell of a record for him.

Val told him all about her job and all about Megan and her little kiosk. She told him about how helpful she was with keeping her life in order and making sure she balanced her Grimm life with her work life and still had time to just relax and be herself. The two of them seemed to have everything worked out. A practically idyllic relationship. They were also considering getting one of those naked cats. Megan was allergic to cat hair, but still wanted one. Val just loved how pissed off those kinds of cats looked all the time.

Robert laughed a little at that. He liked those cats too, but was way more of a dog person. Betsy was living proof of that. “Megan probably wants to dress her up in coats or something.” He said before taking a swig of his coffee. It was black, like his soul, but had at least five sugars in it.

Val giggled a little and sipped her mocha. “Probably. But if you have a hairless baby animal and want it to live through winter you have to keep it rugged up… Do they make animal sunscreen? Don’t want to get one and have it get all sunburnt.”

“Probably. It would kind of suck if there wasn’t a pet sunscreen out there… There’s probably a market for it. Get on that Val.”

She rolled her eyes and grinned. “Pretty sure someone has already done that, and it’s vegan, probably.”

Robert shrugged and started to do a bit of people watching. It was a Saturday so there were a few more young people around. A few of them were kids from the cul-de-sac like Carmensita and Brian’s girl, Daisy. Some of the adults dropped by too; Brian, with Daisy, Hugo, and Craig with River still strapped to him. Robert was starting to wonder if the baby was just glued to him these days. He couldn’t remember the last time he saw them separated.

He felt vaguely better now. Just getting out of the house with Val seemed to improve his mood just a little, however his mood sank a little when he saw Saul walk in. He watched him order some coffee in a take away cup before his gaze fell on him. Their eyes locked for a moment and Saul seemed to hesitate.

Almost reluctantly the detective walked over to them. “Robert.”

“Saul.” Robert looked up at him with a cocky grin. “So, am I getting arrested again?”

Val raised an eyebrow and looked between Saul and Robert. “What?”

Robert chuckled a little and sipped his coffee. “Val, this is Saul. Saul, this is my daughter Val. She’s a Grimm too. Saul threatened to arrest me because I had a senior moment and forgot to clean up after I did some Grimm stuff. He’s a bauerschwein.”

She glared at him. “Okay, first of all screw you for doing that. Secondly, arrest him and it’ll be the last thing you do.”

Saul ignored her threat. “Look, I am sorry about all that. I decided after the fire that you’re just not worth it. Just… keep whatever you do to a minimum and if you have done your thing and someone dies… I need to know so I can bury it. Okay?”

“Can’t promise that,” said Robert. “Grimm’s do what they want.”

He sighed a little. “Look, I know you do what you want but this is kind of a big deal…” Saul pulled a chair up to their table and pulled a picture up on his phone. It looked like a bit of meat with a black U tattooed into it. “The body of a hexenbiest was found in the forest the other day. Still trying to determine cause of death but something killed her and dragged her body up into a tree.”

“So?” Robert sipped his coffee more. “Not my problem, and no offence but considering all the shit they do to people, me feeling shocked or sad for her is like any decent human being feeling bad for a child molester getting shanked and murdered in jail. You probably feel a little bad because death happened, but you know they deserved like a thousand times worse.”

Val smiled a little. “Come on dad, hear him out. What was the body wearing? How damaged was the body?”

Saul didn’t look quite sure if he should say. “I don’t think discussing this case would be appropriate…”

She frowned. “Is this a; I don’t know if I can trust her thing, or she can’t handle the gore because she’s a girl thing?”

“First one.”

Robert rolled his eyes. “You can trust Val. I trust my baby girl with my life, and to be honest, she should leave me for dead most of the time.”

“I see…” Saul hesitated a little and showed Val some photos. “This was what she was wearing. Most of it is really torn up. Impossible to tell if it was post or perimortem, but if I had to educate a guess I’d have to say most of it was postmortem. Same with most of the bite marks.”

“I see… What about the remains? What do you have?”

Robert was content to let Val take the lead on this. If it involved hexenbiests it was best to just leave it be. She probably pissed off her own kind or a group of very powerful wesen. If one was to go after a hexenbiest it would be a top priority to kill them as soon as possible. Letting them continue living after you’ve made them your enemy was a very dangerous thing to do.

Saul showed Val a few more pictures on his phone that made her cringe. “Yeah, pretty bad, huh? Almost all soft tissue has been completely removed. There’s just a few areas on her forearm and most of her face that’s still intact.”

“Fuck…” Val looked a little uneasy as she stared at the photos. “Pardon my language but damn… How long has that body just been, you know? Also where is her hand?”

“Whatever ate her took the hand with them. Probably the same thing that attacked and killed that bear. It was missing a few internal organs and its missing paw was found close to where this woman’s body was found.”

Val chuckled a little. “Yeah, dad was the one that did that… at least the dismembering part and disemboweling thing…”

Robert frowned a little. “What?”

“The other day when that hexenbitch attacked us you fought anything and everything that moved. You killed a bear, remember?”

Robert frowned and thought for a bit. Everything that had happened was like a drug fuel nightmare that was getting hazier every day. “I guess… There was some weird skinny freak and I attacked some big bulking bear thing, but I only cut off its head.”

“You sure?” Asked Val.

“Wait, what hexenbiest?” Asked Saul. “You think she might be the dead one we found?”

Val shrugged. “Probably. She kind of ran off once we found dad. Pretty scary thinking something lives out in the forest around Maple Bay that can kill a hexenbiest.” She grinned at Robert. “What kind of wesen do you think could be able to take down a hexenbiest?”

Robert shrugged a little. “Anything that’s really rabid could do it. I guess…” He glanced at the photo of the corpse that Saul was showing Val. It was almost completely skeletal, but it still had sinew and most of its tendons attached. “If I were to guess I’d say it’s a feral wesen. I think you call them umkippen or something… A local wesen mentioned that’s what it was called. Hopefully they’re just living up in the woods and not in suburbia. Someone’s gonna get eaten if that’s the case… You sure it’s not some crazy human?”

Val looked at Robert like he was an idiot. “Dad, a hexenbiest can easily murder a human. This has to be wesen related. Think they ate her over a period of days or do you think this was more of something a group of them would do?”

“Teeth marks show that it’s just one person,” said Saul. “They were the same teeth marks found on the bear paw. Forensics confirmed that whatever it was wasn’t human, so your theory about an umkippen wesen might hold more water than you think… Any normal wesen wouldn’t even attempt to attack a hexenbiest on their own…”

Robert sighed a little. “Okay fine. I’ll ask around and see what I can dig up. Can’t promise too much though.”

“Thanks,” Saul seemed a little more relieved now. He got up to leave. “You still have my number?”

“The card’s pinned to my fridge.”

Once Saul was out of ear shot Val let out a low whistle. “Damn… Okay, real talk though, are you going to go after some feral wesen? I mean, umkippen wesen? Seems a little dangerous and you aren’t exactly young anymore.”

Robert shrugged and finished his coffee. “I’ll be fine Val. An umkippen wesen is wild animal. They aren’t smart enough to make any really complex decisions. It’ll be piece of cake. They attack, I swing, and their head hits the ground. Simple.”

“I guess…” Val stared into her half-finished mocha. “You’re still pretty old and I need to get back to work soon so… You think you can handle something like this on your own?”

He grinned at her. “Val, I’ll be fine. Thanks for the concern.”


	34. After school tutoring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year. May 2018 be better for everyone.

Something weird was happening in the cul-de-sac. Carmensita knew that for a fact. She had this weird creeping sensation running all up and down her spine whenever she was out near the park. She had started to avoid going there for that reason. She was just lucky that her dad was a little too busy running The Coffee Spoon to really notice anything drastically different about her behavior.

She was finding studying difficult, even with the help of Daisy. Despite her age, Daisy was possibly the smartest person living in the cul-de-sac. She had been tutoring Carmensita in ancient history. They had been going through flash cards and highlighting printed out sheets.

“Can we take a time out?” She asked the younger girl.

Daisy was a little surprised to hear this, but nodded a little. “Sure, but it seems a little early. We’ve only been studying for about fifteen minutes.”

Carmensita sighed dramatically and dragged herself to the kitchen. “But we started the second we stepped through the door. Want some cookies? Dad made some triple chocolate soft dough cookies. They are pretty awesome.”

“Sure.”

Carmensita came back to the lounge room with a plate of cookies and a jug of juice. Hopefully she could extend this break for as long as possible. Studying sucked a fat one and she didn’t care for it.

She happily sat next to Daisy and poured them some drinks. “You don’t have to come over every other day you know,” she reminded her. “You have your own homework and stuff too.”

“It’s okay. I like helping you.” Daisy happily munched on a cookie. “It’s nice to get out of the house every now and then. I can bring Maxwell around next time if you like. Maybe even take him for a walk after studying?”

Carmensita hesitated a little. “Ah, I don’t really know if that is such a good idea… I mean, we’d just be walking around the park, right? I haven’t had very good feelings about that place for a while now…”

“Me either…” said Daisy quietly. “I was just ignoring that feeling. Just didn’t really know what to make of it…”

The older girl smiled a little and lightly nudged her arm. Daisy was always so logical thinking and didn’t let her emotions take over. It was pretty cool, but then again it did make Carmensita wonder if she was actually having a good childhood. Like if she was able to act like a kid or if she just acted like a small adult all the time.

“You got to trust your gut sometimes Daisy. We’re both prey wesen. Our gut feeling is kind of all we really have sometimes.” Carmensita ate a cookie. “The park and forest area is pretty scary for me these days. Especially when it gets late. I think my dad feels it too, but I don’t know… It gives me chills.”

Daisy nodded in agreement. “Do you think it’s an animal? Some sort of big wild animal hiding out in the woods? Maybe it’s wesen related?”

“Eh, maybe.” Carmensita didn’t really know, but she felt like they shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that it was wesen related. She was sure the adults would have been a little more on guard if that was the case. “If it is wesen related we should tell Robert, right? He’s a Grimm, he can take care of it. Plus he’s pretty cool.”

Daisy hummed a little in agreement. “Yeah… My dad doesn’t want me to be around him. He’s a little… I get strange vibes from him. He seems good, but he’s still kind of… dangerous? I guess that’s just because he is a Grimm and everything.”

“Yeah… Guess we shouldn’t bother him if it isn’t actually wesen related? Don’t want to piss off the local Grimm, right?”

The younger nodded. “Yeah. Maybe we should ask around and see if anyone else in the cul-de-sac feels weird about the park now? We might be able to gather some more data that way. And Briar and Hazel have woged, right? We could use their nose in this situation if we need to.”

“Yeah, we could. I think they’d be up for that.” Carmensita had seen the twins in their wesen form, running around their backyard a few times. It was pretty neat to see them being able to use their abilities so well already. She had to chalk it up to their dad. Mr Cahn probably had been helping them get used to their new abilities as blutbad’s. “Think the other kids would get involved too?”

Daisy thought about it for a moment. “Well, Ernest and Lucien might be interested. I believe Ernest likes doing things that could annoy his father and Lucien likes creepy and dangerous things. River obviously won’t be helping since she’s a baby… The Christiansen kids might be interested. Not too sure about them. However we really should try and get involvement from all the teens that can woge.”

“Agreed, and once we figure out what is going on we’ll decide if we need to talk to our local Grimm?”

“I believe we should call me Mr Small, maybe Robert?” Daisy wasn’t sure what the polite thing to call him was. She just felt like calling him Grimm or Mr Grimm seemed kind of wrong in some way.

On the other hand, Carmensita would have thought those names were kind of cool. “Yeah… Maybe we can talk to his daughter?”

“He has a daughter?”

“Yeah, they’ve come into The Coffee Spoon a few times,” said Carmensita as she adjusted her glasses. “Dad told me about her. She seems really cool. It might be cool if she helps us out. Like, she’s the daughter of a Grimm and he’s really cool and stuff, so she’s probably really cool too.” She liked the idea of all the cul-de-sac kids teaming up for spooky, wacky hijinks. It was almost like a teen action movie.

“She might not take us seriously,” warned Daisy. “We are just kids after all and she doesn’t really know us. There’s going to be a large amount of skepticism when it comes to our claims. We don’t even have any physical proof. We’re just… We have wesen prey gut instincts.”

“Well it can’t hurt to ask her, right?” Asked Carmensita. She was getting excited. She could meet another Grimm and talk to her and get to know all kinds of cool Grimm stuff. Maybe even find out some cool ways that she rebelled against her dad when she was younger? That would be pretty sweet.

“We can ask her after I’m done tutoring you.” Said Daisy. She got some flash cards in order and smiled happily at her older friend. “Ready?”

Carmensita wasn’t ready in the slightest. Everything kind of sucked when you had to do boring work first. But it had to be done. She wasn’t that good and really needed to pick grad up. She didn’t want to upset her dad too much. She just wanted to rebel a little bit.

***

After they were done with their tutoring Carmensita and Daisy walked over towards Robert’s home. They stood on the foot path and just stared at it. Neither of them really knew how to approach this situation. Did they just walk up and knock on the door and ask to speak to the woman? Did she actually live there? Did they ask Robert who she was if she wasn’t there?

Luckily for them, she opened the door and walked out to check the mailbox. She looked really cool and badass. She didn’t even bother looking up at them as she looked through the junk mail. “You two want something?

Carmensita jumped a little. “Oh um, you’re a Grimm, right? We’re wesen.”

She looked at them and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I’m a Grimm. My old man lives here. I’m Val, and you two are?”

“I’m Carmensita and this is Daisy. We um… we were wondering if you could help us a little?” Val just gave off this air of intimidation so similar to Robert, Carmensita had to assume that it was a Grimm thing.

Val looked them over, like she was scanning them or something, before she broke into a kind smile. “Sure girls. What can I do for you?”

Carmensita suddenly became very nervous. “We um… Daisy? Help.”

Daisy looked equally nervous as Carmensita. “Um, we think there might be something bad lurking in the woods near the park. It’s kind of putting us off a little. We aren’t too sure what it is and it is probably nothing, but we wouldn’t refuse your help, if you wouldn’t mind.”

The older woman nodded a little. “Alright… What kind of wesen are you two anyway?”

“I’m a reinigen,” said Carmensita. “Daisy is an eisbiber.”

Val seemed rather interested in what kind of wesen they were. “Really? That’s pretty neat. Can you both woge yet?”

“Just me,” said Carmensita.

“I should be able to woge in a few more years,” said Daisy quietly.

Val nodded a little. “I see, so is this just some gut feeling you two are having as prey wesen?”

“Um yeah.” Now Carmensita felt really dumb. Saying this to Val, an actual Grimm, it now sounded really dumb. She now found that she was second guessing her own instincts that she was so sure about moments before. “Um, if you don’t want to get involved it’s okay. Probably just an angry raccoon or something.”

Val smiled at her, flashing her teeth. “Hey it’s cool. If you’re both that worried I’ll help you guys check it out. You got to trust your guts in these situations. If something feels off you got to trust that your gut is right and get out of that situation.”

Carmensita was relieved that Val didn’t brush their concerns off despite their age. “Yeah, we were going to let the other kids know that something’s a little off about the woods.”

“Sounds good. Keep safe kids.” Val checked the junk mail again before going back inside.

Daisy smiled a little at Carmensita. “She seems very nice.”

“Couldn’t agree more.” Though in all honesty, Carmensita couldn’t help but feel that Val wouldn’t help them out as much as she said she would. They were still going to have to talk to the other kids and see if they could find some clues as to what on earth was giving them chills in the park.


	35. Cul-de-sac kids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am still surprised with how many chapters this fanfic has, and I am still no where near done yet. Enjoy.

It’s dark, but that’s okay. It’s night. It’s a first quarter moon tonight. There’s more than enough light for them to explore. Much easier than a new moon. At night the woods belonged to them. This was their territory. Walking through the trees they could smell the unmistakable musky scent of young blutbads. No real match for them.

Their stomach rumbled. They needed food. They had food. They hid it far away so that no one else could take it from them. There was still some meat left on those bones. They had taken their hand earlier as a snack. They had enjoyed how chewy the tendons were and the burst of flavour that came when biting into those bones. The other bones were too big for them to care about. They liked the small bones. They were the best ones.

Their stomach rumbled again and they started to run. With minimal effort they jumped over fallen debris like it was nothing. They were light, they were fast, and they were agile. This was freedom. This was fun. 

They eventually made it to their tree but were horrified to find that their food was gone. Weird stripped tape surrounded the tree that they put their food. They climbed the tree and sniffed around. It wasn’t fair. There was still meat on those bones. It was so much more tender after a few days tenderizing in the sun.

Despite this set back, they were going to go and find something else to eat. It couldn’t be that hard to find. Their previous food had just suddenly appeared before them before. It could happen again, but they doubted it. They needed to hunt. Their need for raw meat was growing stronger by the second.

They leapt out of the tree and landed silently on the ground. There had to be something around here to eat. Something small. Easy to catch. They would have loved to consume another bear, but they knew that they weren’t strong enough to take on one alone. Finding that beheaded one was just pure luck.

They heard the sound of something small scurrying around in the undergrowth. Was it a rabbit? No, too big. A dog? Too small. A fox? Yes, a fox. They weren’t too far away. They could find it and eat it. They needed it. They had to have it.

Staying downwind of it, they stayed low and followed them. They could practically hear its heart beating and its blood rush around its veins. That sound excited them to no end. It made them drool. They could almost taste the hot metallic blood on their tongue now.

They could see the fox now. They wanted it. It was tasty. It had to be. It was just tasty meat wrapped in fur. They could leap forward at any moment and grab it. They didn’t have to wait, but they would. They wanted the perfect opportunity. They were patient.

The fox’s ear twitched. They leapt forward. It was over in an instant. Their teeth sunk into the foxes flesh and they felt the crunch of their fragile vertebra. Fur and blood filled their mouth as they bit down and pulled at the flesh. It wasn’t as good as the woman. There was more fat on her and less annoying hair. Sure there was hair in several places, but it wasn’t too bad. They were in patches. Easy to pull off if they really wanted to. There was a fair amount of meat on that woman’s bones.

Suddenly they heard a twig snap and froze. Was someone there? Did they smell their food? No, it was theirs. They killed it. It belonged to them. They took the dead fox in their mouth and quickly climbed up the nearest tree. They stayed still for a moment before they continued to eat their kill, bones and all. It tasted good, but they wanted more. More meat. More flesh. More blood. They wanted it. They needed it. They would have more.

***

Somehow Carmensita and Daisy had successfully managed to get all the kids in the cul-de-sac to all gather in Carmensita’s house to discuss the issue of their prey instincts going off near the woods. Not surprisingly most of them didn’t believe them.

Hazel laughed. “Really? You two get a funny feeling and you think it’s wesen related? It could have just been me going crazy with my scent marking again.”

Briar nodded in agreement. “She has gotten better at it, but she still goes crazy and scent marks everything she can get her paws on.” Her twin immediately punched Briar in the arm for that comment.

“Please be reasonable,” said Daisy calmly. “We aren’t claiming that it is wesen related but we felt that since two prey wesen were feeling uneasy it would be irresponsible to let you all know our feelings in this situation.”

“What the hell is even a prey wesen anyway?” Asked Ernest. “Like yeah, you’re a reinigen and you’re an eisbiber so whatever, but what qualifies us as prey or predator wesen.”

Daisy thought for a moment. “I believe we will have to use nature as our guide here. I think it would be safe to say that Briar, Hazel, Lucien and perhaps any of the Christiansen’s are predator wesen since their wesen forms are wolves, bat, and fox respectively.” 

Chris rolled his eyes and made a dismissive sound. He didn’t really talk that much, in fact none of the Christiansen kids did, so it was all the more likely people would listen to them when any of them did speak. “We don’t know if any of us are goat or fox wesen. Dad said we might only be able to do a partial woge. Why are we even here?”

“Because-” said Carmensita “-this is important to all of us. Partial woge, full woge, can’t woge at all, it doesn’t matter. We’re all living here together and we should look out for each other. Wesen gotta stick together.” 

The young child still didn’t seem too convinced. “This is dumb. Have you told your dads yet?”

Carmensita sighed a little. “No… We want to know if it really is wesen related and not like some big angry animal that animal control needs to deal with. We asked Val if she could look into it… She’s Robert’s daughter. She’s a Grimm too.”

“Christ there’s more of them?” Muttered Ernest. “Who else wants to break it to the rest of the adults that there’s another Grimm running around? I thought she was just some weird friend he knew before he moved here…”

Lucien rolled his eyes. “It’s pretty obvious they are related.” He covered his mouth and started coughing.

Ernest nudged him. “You okay?”

“I think I’m coming down with something.” He pulled a few tissues out of the tissue box on the coffee table and coughed into them.

Carmensita sighed a little. “Anyway, back to the important stuff, we just think you should all be careful around the park and not go into the woods for a few weeks. At least not until we can confirm without any doubt that it isn’t wesen related at all and… do you need some water Lucien?”

The teen shook his head and coughed something into his tissues. “I’m fine.” He crumpled it up into a ball.

Hazel smirked at him. “Coughing up a hairball or something? Didn’t think you were a big ol’ kitty cat wesen. Thought you were a bat boy.” Lucien glared at her and tossed his balled up tissue at her. She screeched and flailed and knocked it away. “Gross! That’s disgusting!”

Carmensita sighed a little and shook her head. “Look, I’m just saying that those of us who can woge should be more mindful of the woods and park for a while and make it our responsibility to take care of those who can’t woge yet. None of us want anyone getting hurt. Especially those of us with pets that like walking in the park. Think safety in numbers. Okay?”

Everyone agreed to keep an eye out for each other and to try and stay away from the park. At least for a few weeks. Daisy and Carmensita felt like they had done pretty well. They might not have accomplished too much, but at least everyone got warned, and that was realistically all they could do.

***

“Is it cannibalism?”

Robert looked up from his book and gave Val the most confused look he could muster. Since Saul had asked for their help to look for a feral wesen, he and Val had been pouring over the books in Robert’s spare room. He had to admit it was a good distraction. It helped him to ignore the trauma he had gone through. It was a gift. However it was a little hard to do without alcohol.

Val sighed a little and elaborated. “Wesen. Is it cannibalism if a wesen eats another wesen? They are technically people, right?”

“Ah, well it’s kind of a grey area there,” admitted Robert. “Most wesen follow predator prey relationships you usually see in the wild. Wolves eat rabbits, snakes eat mice, that kind of stuff. If a predator wesen kills and eats a prey wesen it’s a shitty thing to have happened and the families grieve, but they generally move on a little faster than a normal human would. Generally wesen are more forgiving if they are killed for food… But it varies from wesen to wesen.”

Val frowned and shook her head. “I still don’t really get it… Why hunt and eat another wesen? It just doesn’t seem right…”

“You ever watch any animal documentaries?” Asked Robert. “A lot of animals readily and willingly cannibalize each other… And considering how completely fucked up normal humans are I think the only reason they don’t start eating each other is because of all the fucked up diseases you can get from eating humans.”

“Yeah…” Val shuddered at the thought and flipped through a book. She was trying to find any information about wesen that dragged their kills into trees for later feedings. “So a wesen eating another wesen isn’t seen as taboo in the wesen community?”

“It’s about as taboo to them as a human getting eaten by a bear or a shark. It fucking sucks but ultimately the human was the moron in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Isn’t that victim blaming?”

“Don’t put human characteristics onto wild animals Val,” said Robert calmly. “There’s no such things as an evil animal. They are only driven by their needs for food, water, shelter, and occasionally the need to mate but that is neither here nor there. Point is it’s the exact same with a feral, umkippen wesen. They are pretty much just going to act like a bigger, angrier version of whatever creature they are when they woge.”

Val nodded a little and continued to look through her book. It was a strange grey area in wesen culture as far as Robert knew. It wasn’t something people talked about. He knew a fair few predator wesen used to go and hunt very specific prey wesen as a rite of passage or for ritualistic ceremonies, but most would go for actual animals these days. 

“What are we gonna do when we find them?” Asked Val.

“Set a trap first, obviously,” said Robert. “Then we’ll pin it down and cut off its head. Can’t have a feral wesen running around killing and eating everything it wants can we?”

***

Cleaning up after everyone was the worst. There were always so many cups half filled with juice or cookie chunks everywhere. Not crumbs. Chunks. The Christians kids and the Cahn twins were the biggest culprits when it came to leaving huge chunks of cookies all over the furniture. But when it came to leaving cups of half-finished drinks everywhere it was almost always Ernest or Lucien doing that. Was it a teenage boy thing? A teenage thing?

Either way she had to vacuum the couch and the floor before her dad came home. Depending on the kind of day he had at work he wouldn’t be overly thrilled to find the lounge room was a disaster zone. She really didn’t want to do it, but her dad didn’t need any more stress so she did it.

Cleaning went relatively well, that was until the vacuum got blocked by a scrunched up tissue. More than likely it was the tissue Lucien threw at Hazel earlier. She’s wash her hands once she was done with this. Carmensita tried to carefully peel it off the nozzle, cringing when she heard it crunch and crinkle.

“Ew, so gross…” she muttered as it partially unfurled. Something hard hit the ground and bounced along the hardwood floor. “… What?” Carmensita turned off the vacuum and crouched down to inspect what had hit the floor.

It was small and hard and white. It looked like it had been cracked open, whatever it was. The inside was kind of porous and looked kind of reddish brown. She didn’t know much about biology, but it looked a little like a bone to her. She opened up the tissue and to her surprise she found a small mass of bone tangled in brown fur. It reminded her of a thing called a pellet. It was a thing that some birds would vomit up from time to time. It consisted of all the parts that a predatory bird couldn’t digest; bones, hair and feathers.

This just confused Carmensita. Sure it wasn’t uncommon for some predatory wesen to hack up pellets after a kill, especially if they were young and weren’t especially good at picking their next meals. That was actually pretty common. The thing that really confused her was the fact that Lucien was a vegetarian. He shouldn’t be coughing up a pellet.


	36. Set the trap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I have finally figured out how to edit... Maybe... Don't hold your breath...

It had taken them almost half a day for Robert and Val to purchase all the things they needed for their trap; fishing nets, chicken wire, rope, and lots of cheap meat. The idea was simple enough, they would head around to where the hexenbiest was murdered and hang the meat from a tree. They would wrap it in a few layers of fishing net, then chicken wire, then fishing net again. The idea was to make it near impossible for anything to get at the food, and to hopefully trap its fingers in between the holes.

Val had decided to prepare the trap herself in the backyard. For some reason she didn’t seem to trust Robert with this task. Not that he was complaining. It just meant he could stand out the front of his place and smoke a little. Val didn’t like the smell so he was doing his best to do it outside the hose while she was around.

He saw Mary coming back from grocery shopping and waved at her. With her arms full she nodded her head and attempted to gesture for him to get his ass over there and help her. Reluctantly, Robert stubbed his cigarette out on the side of his house and walked over to her.

“Need a man to help you out? Can’t you recruit your rugrats?”

Mary rolled her eyes. “Robert, it’s a school day. The little monsters are off learning stuff, Crish is at day care and Joseph… Fuck knows who Joseph is doing now. Now pick up a bag and lug it inside.”

Robert was a little hesitant but did as instructed. “… Did something happen between you two?”

She sighed heavily and started to unpack the items. “Joseph and I… I’m leaving him.”

“Shit, really?”

“Yeah, I can’t take it anymore. We’ll just have joint custody of the kids. Easier that way. I can’t live with him anymore.”

Robert nodded a little. “Fuck… Um, does he know? Do your kids know?”

She snorted out a laugh. “None of them know. Joseph probably knows, but he’s as thick as two bricks when it comes to the state of our marriage… We were too stupid to get married, but we did anyway…” She sighed miserably. “I was gonna be an apothecary. Open up a spice shop and sell some good old wesen recipes for the wesen community… and some health nut hipster hippie folk. If I’d had known then what I know now… I think I would have run away with you way back when…”

“Well our lives would be really different if that was the case.”

“Yeah, I’d be Val’s cool aunt Mary.” Mary just looked so tired now. Like the weight of the world was on her shoulders.

“Probably… Do you have anywhere to stay?” 

“I’m staying with Dames,” she chuckled a little. “He’s always said his door will never be closed to me… And I don’t think I should just suddenly move out of the cul-de-sac. It would confuse my kids. Make them think I’m abandoning them or something…”

“… Fair enough.” He really hoped that things were going to turn out alright for Mary and her kids. Joseph on the other hand, he couldn’t give a shit about what happened to him. As far as he was concerned that guy was still a bastard. “If you need anything you can always come over to my place.”

She smiled a little and hugged him. “Thanks Robert… That means a lot to an old gal like me.”

Robert awkwardly hugged her back. He wasn’t good with situations that required affection. He needed to change the subject or something. “So how is Damien? Haven’t seen him much since Val’s been around.”

“Yeah, well he thought you two needed some actual catch up time, plus your whole mental breakdown happened and you tried to stab him…. So he’s probably dealing with that.”

“Oh… Yeah, the stabbing thing was probably a turn off for him.”

“You think?” Mary quickly finished putting away her groceries. “Come on, help me take my luggage over to Dame’s place.”

Robert helped carry one of her bags over to Damien’s place. He wondered if he actually knew Mary was suddenly moving in or if this was just something she had spontaneously decided on her own. He stood by her while she knocked on the door.

Damien opened the door and smiled at them, but he looked very tired. He had dark circles under his eyes, his hair looked messy, and it seemed like he did the bare minimum when it came to his makeup. At least he was wearing his Victorian inspired clothes and not his work clothes.

“Ah, good afternoon you two.” He looked at the bags cautiously and then at Mary. “I see you have made your choice?”

She nodded. “Yep. Spare room still vacant?”

“Of course.” He stepped aside and let them both in. “Just upstairs, the room directly across for Lucien’s… If you hear any groaning or vomiting coming from his room please ignore it. Lucien seems to have picked up some kind of stomach flu.”

“That explains why you look so awful,” said Mary. “Have you been up all night with him? Is this just a vomiting thing or are we talking complete evacuation from both ends?”

Damien gave her an exasperated expression. “As long as you stay away from him you won’t catch what he has. Please don’t distress him more than he already is.”

“Got it.” Mary and Robert walked to the spare room and dropped off her things. Mary hummed a little and started to unpack. “Alright Robert, get moving. I’m gonna be unpacking my delicates and I don’t want you to see my nickers.”

“I’ve already seen your tits Mary.”

She pouted and lightly shoved his arm. “Yeah, but fuck you. I don’t want you to see my underwear. Go talk to Damien or something while I settle in.”

“Fine.” He whined. Robert went downstairs and found Damien in the kitchen making tea. He leaned against the doorframe and smiled a little. “Hey there.”

Damien looked over at him and smiled a little. “Hello Robert. The tea will be ready in a few moments.”

“Cool… Are you okay?”

He laughed a little. “Dear Robert that is what I should be asking you.”

“Hey, your kid is sick and you’re worried about them. You look like you’ve been up half the night looking after them too.”

“… Yes.” Damien sighed sadly. “He hasn’t been feeling well all week… I think it might be because of his insomnia, he’s just so tired all the time. Now the poor boy has gone and made himself sick. I’m going to take him to see a doctor, but I really just hope that a good night’s sleep will at least settle his violent nausea.” He put the tea pot on a tray and smiled. “But enough about me and my son’s health issues. What is new in the world of the Grimm’s?” Damien walked out to the sitting room and placed the tea tray down.

Robert sat on the couch and shrugged. “There’s some umkippen wesen running around eating everything it can get its fangs into. Remember that hexenbiest that pretended to be Val? Some crazy wesen killed her, dragged her body up into a tree and ate her over several days. So Val and I are gonna go out and see if we can kill it.”

“… That is… I did not expect to hear that’s what became of her… But do you have to kill the umkippen wesen? They don’t know what they are doing.”

Robert shrugged. “Sorry Dames, but that’s what we Grimm’s do. This wesen’s proven they are far too dangerous to just let go. They’ll attack anyone and everything.”

“You’ve dealt with them before?”

“Yeah… In my experience most normal wesen are able to think relatively clearly when they woge and keep their human minds but those ones… There is nothing left. Just an animal.”

Damien nodded a little and sipped some tea. “True, but it is possible to rehabilitate a wesen when they fall into that state.”

“Really? How?”

“There are many different methods for such a thing.” He paused for a moment and thought. “I do believe one of Mary’s cousins went through a rather bad umkippen, understandable when you realise he had been lost in a forest for about two months. Never the less he was given a series of strong potions over the course of a year and the problem was solved.”

“What did the potion do?”

“Forever lock him in his human state. It was unfortunate but it had to be done. Less sever methods would be more reminiscent of those TV shows where a drug user is forced to detox at home and are tied to a bed while they shriek and scream bloody murder… A strict vegan or vegetarian diet helps too.”

“Why?”

“Most umkippen tend to be predator wesen. It seems as though consuming flesh and blood can fire up the senses and make it harder to control wesen urges… I know several wesen that are vegetarian simply in defiance of their wesen nature and to keep it in check.”

Robert nodded a little and drank some tea, once again burning his tongue. Somehow he only burnt his tongue on tea, but not coffee. “Do you find it helps you? You are a predator wesen after all.”

Damien shrugged. “My wesen side is not something I like to indulge in. There are times when I do, but or the most part no. I do not like to stay in that form for longer than I must… It just feels dangerous to let such a creature be exposed for longer than needed.”

Robert nodded a little. “I see…” He was getting soft in his old age. “Look, if I can avoid it I won’t kill this wesen on sight. I’ll try and catch whatever it is, and if it is umkippen I’ll see if I can try and rehabilitate it.”

Damien looked surprised to hear Robert say that, but he smiled. That smile melted Robert’s heart. He really was getting soft in his old age. “Thank you Robert. That means a lot to me… Just don’t hurt yourself. Okay?”

“I will. Don’t worry.” Robert put his tea cup down and got up. “Well, Val and I gotta go get ready for our hunt tonight. We’ll go on another date once this is all over. Okay?”

“… I’d like that.”

***

**Hoodie Gremlin ******  
You okay?  
You weren’t at school today  
You sick or something?  
Hugo is making me bring over your homework 

**Emo kid ******  
I’m fine.  
Just tired. 

********

**Hoodie Gremlin ******  
You’re always tired  
You should see a doctor  
Your insomnia has really fucked you up

********

**Emo kid ******  
I know.  
I’m sorry. 

********

**Hoodie Gremlin ******  
Wait?  
Sorry?  
Is the great Lucien Bloodmarch apologising to me?  
Shit  
You’re either stoned out of your mind or actually dying

********

**Emo kid ******  
I’m man enough to know when I’ve been a piece of shit.  
Something you should learn to do. 

********

**Hoodie Gremlin ******  
Fuck off  
If you aren’t sick want to do something later? 

********

**Emo kid ******  
Sure.  
I want to go for a walk in the woods. 

********

**Hoodie Gremlin ******  
Really?  
Didn’t we just go over to ‘Sita’s place to talk about how we should avoid the woods? 

********

**Emo kid ******  
Seriously?  
Come on.  
I’m a predator wesen.  
I can keep you safe baby face. 

********** **

**Hoodie Gremlin ******  
Fuck off  
I can take care of myself 

************** ** ** **

**Emo kid ******  
lol  
Sure you can. 

**Hoodie Gremlin ******  
Go fuck a cactus you hairy nipple  
I hate you 

********

**Emo kid ******  
So rude to your elders.  
We’ll talk about it when you bring over my homework.  
Bring your vape. 

**Hoodie Gremlin ******  
Whatever  
Feel better scrub lord  
ttyl 

**Emo kid ******  
ttyl  
nerd 


	37. Caught

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really need to stop putting Lucien, and by association, Damien through hell... But nope. I'm gonna keep doing it. I am a horrible human being. Enjoy.

The teens had easily escaped their parent’s homes that night. Lucien had told his dad that he was just going to go to sleep early and easily jumped out is bedroom window. Ernest just walked out the front door and locked up. Tonight was his dad’s trivia night so no dad could stop him leaving.

They had walked to the park and sat on the swings. They sat in relative silence and shared Ernest’s vape. It was some nondescript fruit flavour. Kind of tasted like citrus, but Lucien wasn’t too sure. It was pleasant enough. 

Ernest was the first to speak. “You sure you’re feeling okay? You weren’t at school…”

“I’m fine. Really,” said Lucien. “I think I just got sick from my dad’s cooking or something. He’s worried about nothing.” Truthfully this wasn’t the first time he had gotten sick in this many weeks. He often woke up with his mouth tasting like bile and had been getting terrible stomach cramps for at least two weeks now. He’d assumed it was some weird acid reflux problem and had down some anti-acid pills, but that didn’t seem to work.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Fuck, why did Ernest have to be so damn nosey all the time? In fact, why was he so damn loud? It was night time and they were outside. He was giving him a headache. “Give me the vape already.”

Ernest handed it over and Lucien quickly snatched it up and took a long drag. It felt good, but he still had a headache. Lucien was pretty sure he had a nicotine addiction by now. Not as bad as Ernest did, but he had one. He’d have to stop vaping soon. He passed the vape back to Ernest and casually started to swing. They were facing the woods.

He was sure the girls were blowing this whole thing out of proportion. If there was something dangerous living in there the adults would have taken care of it by now. Besides, he went walking in the woods all the time. If it was dangerous at all it was obviously weaker than him since it never bothered him once and he didn’t feel its presence once while he was out there. Then again he was roosting most of the time so he might have missed it. Maybe.

From the corner of his eye he could see a trail of vape coming from Ernest. It was quiet again so it let Lucien think. Mostly about how shit he’d been acting towards the younger teen lately. It wasn’t Ernest’s fault he’d been so sick lately. He was in the wrong. He needed to apologies.

He dug his heels into the ground and turned to his friend. Much to his surprise, Ernest was staring back at him. “… Um, sorry I’ve been a piece of shit to you lately… Are we cool?”

“Yeah, we’re cool… Um, it might just be the lighting and stuff but your neck is really red.”

Lucien frowned a little and lightly touched his neck, immediately feeling itchy. “Yeah, I used some body scrub stuff and as it turns out, I’m allergic to it. My chest is worse.” He assumed it was a body scrub. The rashes started developing around the time he started feeling nauseous and he started using the body scrub around then. There wasn’t really much else it could be. 

“Dude, is there anything you’re not allergic to?”

“Fucked if I know man.”

“Hmm…” Ernest continued to stare at him. It was kind of unnerving. “Are you okay?”

“I already told you I was fine.”

“Nah man, I mean like mentally. That’s all… Like you almost died and your dad is dating a Grimm and stuff now, right? That’s gotta be like, really stressful and junk.”

It was stressful. Lucien was happy that his dad was getting out and dating someone again, but it was a Grimm. Robert had saved his life, so he felt a little indebted to him. Like he couldn’t tell him to fuck off and leave his dad alone. Nothing really messed up had happened to his dad while they were together and his dad always seemed to be happier after they had spent time together. He couldn’t complain. He wasn’t allowed to. His headache was getting worse.

“Yeah… It’s weird, but my dad is happy. It’s all good.” Lucien sighed a little, kicking the dirt a little. “Mary is staying with us now.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yeah. I think she left Joseph. Like for good.”

“Shit, really? What the fuck?”

“He’s a ziegevolk and she’s a fuchsbau. I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did. You can’t mix predator and prey wesen species like that. It just doesn’t work. Something always shatters it.”

Glancing over at Ernest, Lucien was surprised to see how uncomfortable he looked. It could have been because, despite his looks and how he acted, Ernest was a die heard, hopeless romantic. Maybe he just couldn’t bear to talk about or hear about a potential of a divorce because of what happened with his dads? That at least could have contributed to the teen’s desperate need to cling to fairytale endings. That’s at least what Lucien thought.

“Do you really think predator and prey wesen romances are doomed from the start?” He sounded rather disheartened at the thought.

Lucien just shrugged. “Look, like everything you have to think logically about this shit. You put a mouse in with snake they aren’t gonna be friends. The snake is going to eat the mouse… Why? You got a crush on Briar or Hazel?”

“What? No. Fuck that shit.” Ernest sighed and took another drag from his vape, holding it in his lungs for a while before letting it go slowly out his nose. “I just… I think if two people work on their differences and get rid of all that toxic bullshit that is wesen instinct and stuff and just… You know… What happens if you started liking someone and then you found out they were like a um… Willahara. What then?”

“A rabbit person?” He’d never really thought about that before. Lucien wasn’t looking for a girlfriend or a boyfriend, or anything like that in general. People didn’t like him or gravitate towards him for that reason. He was still a social outcast at school. “Wouldn’t happen.”

“Why not? You’re attractive.”

Lucien raised an eyebrow at Ernest’s statement. “What?”

The younger blushed a little and pulled his hoodie further over his head. “What? I’m man enough to admit when another guy is attractive. Fuck you.”

He laughed a little and went back to swinging, even if it was only a little. “Yeah, yeah. Fuck you too dude. I’m just not interested in people like that. Need to sort my own shit out before I can think of going out with anyone.”

“Oh, so you’re ace or something?”

Lucien shrugged. “Don’t think so. Maybe. Why does it matter anyway?” His headache was suddenly coming back. The damn thing was coming back in waves. It was unsettling and weird. He was thinking about heading back home soon. A new bout of nausea was starting to sink in too.

“I don’t matter if you’re ace or not,” said Ernest. “I just… I don’t know. Would you date a prey wesen?”

Lucien stopped swinging again, hoping this would stop him from feeling sick. “Would you date a predator wesen?”

“… If I liked them and they liked me, I don’t see why I wouldn’t want to give it a go.” Ernest seemed to go quiet. He was now staring down at his feet, unable to look at Lucien. “So you wouldn’t date a prey wesen for any reason? Like at all?”

“Why do you care so fucking much?”

“… No reason. Just making conversation.”

“Yeah, about relationships. Seriously, you got a crush one someone or what? Look, forget all the bullshit in your romance movies. Girls want you to be up font with them. They will appreciate it. So will guys. Let’s face it us teenagers are really fucking stupid. You have to say to them I like you. Either that or I have a crush on you.” That seemed like solid advice to him. “If they reject you it wasn’t meant to be. If they like you back, good for you. That’s all you can do.”

The younger teen was quiet for a moment. “I think I have a crush on you.”

“Yeah, you say it like that to them.”

Ernest looked at Lucien with disbelief and shock written all over his face. “Fuck you.”

“What?”

“Fuck you!” He got up and started to storm off in the direction of the cul-de-sac. “Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! I fucking hate you! Fuck you!”

Lucien was confused. Why on earth was Ernest so pissed off at him? He was giving him advice. They had made up and were no longer pissed at each other about Lucien’s stupid bullshit. He shouldn’t have been as mad as he was. He got up to follow Ernest but he couldn’t. His stomach cramped up as soon as he stood.

He felt nauseous as he felt his stomach bubble and fizz. To Lucien it felt his insides were filled with soda and someone had suddenly filled it full of mentos. He vomited up some foam into his mouth, spitting it out into the ground. Even in the low light he could tell what colour it was. He could smell it. He could taste it. It was blood. He was vomiting foamy blood. Was it his blood? It had to be. There was nothing else it could possibly be.

Lucien tried to call out to Ernest for help, but looking around it seemed like the teen was gone. A new wave of nausea quickly over took him and he vomited. This time it was thicker, less foamy, thicker. He felt dizzy and weak in the knees. He stumbled back a little, grabbing onto the chain of the swing, but it didn’t work. He fell over and completely emptied his stomach.

He felt weak and his stomach continued to churn and growl like crazy. Lucien no longer felt sick. He no longer felt anything much. He could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest. He could hear every cell rushing through his veins through his ears. Lucien groaned a little as his as he felt muscles and ligaments involuntarily stretching and contracting. 

His stomach growled again. Lucien didn’t feel sick anymore. It was something else. No longer did he care or was worried about the blood that pooled in his stomach. His stomach was empty. He didn’t like that. He was hungry. He needed food.

Glancing around his eyes landed on the woods. The woods were good. That was where he needed to go. There was always food in there. Food for him. He knew it. He could practically smell it. Lucien was going to eat.

***

The truck ride out to the trap location was interesting to say the least. Robert hadn’t filled Val out on all the details of the plan, since he had to modify it ever so slightly. The modification mainly involved brining along dolly and a slightly modified metal cabinet along with them instead of a barrel and a few bags on lye. It was a bit of a pain to wheel the cabinet out into the middle of the woods, but Robert thought it was worth it.

“So we aren’t going to dissolve them or something?” she asked. Referring to the lack of corrosive materials and air tight containers.

Robert shook his head. “Nah, gonna try a different technique. I want to see if I can possibly rehabilitate a feral wesen.”

“… So your new plan is to kidnap them and attempt to make them feel better or something? Dad, you’re not a therapist. There’s no coming back from that.”

“Maybe, but Damien seemed convinced that there was a way.”

Val looked at her dad in disbelief. “Oh my god… Dad, are you doing this to get into your boyfriend’s pants?” 

“… What?”

“My god you are… Either that or you’ve gone all soft in your old age.” She opened up an esky and pulled out the bait trap. She had done a good job of tying it up. No animal was going to get their greedy paws on it anytime soon. 

Robert rolled his eyes and did his best to rest the dolly on some solid ground. It wasn’t on even ground, but it was the best that he could do at this point in time. “Val, Dames is a gentleman. It would take more than just a simple gesture to get into his pants.”

“… Not that it’s any of my business, but have you two… actually, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know if you two have gone and done it yet. That is gross.”

“You’re right. It is none of your business.” It had been forever since Robert had gone and dated someone, but he was pretty sure in the adult dating world you have a few dates before you fuck, unless you’re just hooking up. Plus he was pretty sure that Damien might not be comfortable with other people seeing him naked. So that might mean if they were to get down to it they’d probably take twice as long as other couples. God, couples sounded so domestic.

Once the trap was set they headed back to the truck to wait. They’d go back and check it every hour to see if any animal or feral wesen had gotten into their trap. The first three times there was nothing, but on the fourth time there was something, someone. They heard it before they saw it. It was growling and shrieking something awful. It sounded both in pain and furious at the same time.

Coming upon the trap Robert couldn’t help but feel a small sense of dread when he recognized the large eared freak with his fingers caught in their trap. Hell, it wasn’t even their face or wesen form that got his attention. He had seen their clothes so many times as they skulked around the cul-de-sac. It was unmistakably a murciélago. It was unmistakably Lucien. The teen’s shirt and face was covered in blood. Bits of animal fur and meat were threated through his teeth. Had he eaten something before he had gotten here? Probably.

Lucien growled and snarled at the duo as he tried to pull his fingers out of the trap. It wasn’t going to work. He was going to pull the flesh from his fingers before he was able to free himself. With his aggressive nature, Robert was pretty sure that Lucien could actually rip his fingers off before he would calm down. This would really suck for them if that was the case.

Robert sighed a little and shook his head. “Damn it Lucien.”

“You know this guy?”

“Yeah… Val, this is Lucien Bloodmarch… the teenage son of my boyfriend…”

“… You sure know how to pick them dad.”

“Shut up and choke him out.” Robert went over to the metal cabinet, opened it and took out some duct tape and a pair of wire cutters. While he did this he heard Lucien making choking sounds as Val put him into a sleeper hold of some sort and made him pass out. He tossed the duct take to Val and started to clip Lucien’s fingers free from the trap.

His fingers weren’t as lacerated as Robert assumed they would be. They were cut up something awful but they weren’t that deep. Merely skin deep if he was to be perfectly honest. They might scar but he would live. A small animal bone was caught on his lip. It looked like an rabbit bone to him. Robert picked it away before he put a generous amount of tape over Lucien’s mouth. If he woke up and woged, Robert didn’t want to hear him scream and have his head explode.

“What’s with this rash?” Asked Val as she pointed to his neck. “Is he actually feral or does he have some wesen disease?”

Robert shrugged. “No idea. Does your body act differently if you start eating meat after not eating it for years?”

“Oh, is he a vegetarian?”

“Him and his dad.”

“Ah, okay.” She frowned a little and finished taping him up. “I guess he could possibly be having some kind of meat allergy? I think I read that was a thing. Something about bodies not being able to break down meat proteins or some bullshit like that.”

“… Biology is weird.”

“Very.”

With Lucien passed out and taped up they put him in the cabinet and wheeled him back to the truck using the dolly and loaded it onto the back. The Small’s got into the truck and started to drive back to the cul-de-sac.

This was not good. Damien was going to flip the fuck out when he found out about this. He had mentioned that he was worried that Lucien was going through this ages ago. This was not good. At least they didn’t go in with their original idea of instantly murdering whatever wesen they caught in their trap no questions asked. But in all due respect, Robert probably would have gone and stopped himself before straight up murdering him. There was no way he wouldn’t recognize Lucien.

Val sighed a little as she craned her neck to see the cabinet in the back of the truck. “You sure we couldn’t have brought him into the front with us?”

“Val, if he woke up and freaked out we would crash and die.” Said Robert calmly. “If we put him in the front but had him restrained there might have been a chance we got pulled over by the police and taken down town. Let’s face it, it’s kind of fucked up to duct tape a kid.”

“… I guess.”

“Yeah.” Robert still felt bad that he had to knock Lucien out and deliver him back to Damien with some nasty looking cuts on his hands and blood all over himself. Robert really hoped that whatever Lucien had eaten prior to finding their trap wasn’t anything too big, or like someone’s pet. That would be bad.

As they left the woods behind and returned to civilization Robert took one last look at it. God, he absolutely hated those woods.


	38. Panic Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I absolutely hate getting up early to go to the gym. Fuck my New Years resolution of getting in shape. I'm even more sleep deprived than I normally am. Secondly, fuck specialist doctors being away on holidays when I needed to see them since Boxing Day. Fuck it all, Fuck it all. Thirdly, thank you all for sticking with this. I really appreciate it :D

This was really awkward. Robert and Val had managed to use the dolly to wheel the metal cabinet up to Damien’s doorstep. Robert had checked to see if Lucien was still alive when they got to the cul-de-sac, and was happy to see that Val didn’t accidently snap his neck. That would have been very hard to explain to Damien. However, it was going to be equally hard to explain why Lucien was all bloodied and locked in a cabinet. He’d let Val do most of the explaining on this one.

He knocked on the door, not surprised to see Mary answer. She seemed a little surprised to see them though. “Well, this is different. Did Damien ask you to pick that up or something?”

Robert shook his head. “Nah, but I’m pretty sure Damien wants what’s inside it. Would you mind?”

Mary let them in and called Damien down from the library. Val and Robert had taken the cabinet into the sitting room and both looked at each other, silently trying to figure out how to deal with this. Damien looked really tired, like Mary had just woken him up from sleep. He had probably fallen asleep while reading. He hadn’t looked very good earlier that day either.

Despite how he felt, Damien smiled softly at them. “Good evening. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Mary said you had something for me?”

Robert was hesitant, but Val quickly stepped in. “Yeah, so don’t know if dad said anything to you two but we went out and hunted down a feral wesen. You guys call them umkippen, right?”

“… Please don’t tell me you brought such a wesen into my home,” muttered Damien. “I don’t think I will be able to help you rehabilitate one at the moment.”

Val smiled nervously. “Um well… We set up this trap to catch them and um… Their fingers might be all bloodied and torn up, but we knocked them out and freed them before any permanent damage happened. But the blood on their shirt and face was something they did before we caught them.”

She opened the cabinet and Robert quickly moved to catch Lucien as he tumbled out. Damien let out a horrified gasp and rushed to him. “My god… What happened?” He was distraught as he examined his son, taking care when examining Lucien’s lacerated fingers. “Why? He couldn’t… I don’t understand…”

Val crouched next to Damien and gently patted his shoulder. “The trap we set up was made to snare the fingers of anything that tried to grab the meat inside. Your kid didn’t even recognize us or even try to talk to us. Dad and I are both pretty sure he’s gone feral.”

While Val explained precisely what had happened out in the woods Mary appeared beside Robert and offered him some wine. Robert declined. He was strictly a whiskey drinker. She just shrugged and drank.

“You know,” she muttered. “I thought Joseph was gonna be on Damien’s doorstep begging me to come home… But I guess he just doesn’t care.”

“It hasn’t been a full day yet Mary.” He reminded her. “He’ll realize something’s up soon enough. So what does this mean for Lucien and Damien? What do they do now?”

Mary hummed a little. “Well, I have a few connections because of my parents, so we could possibly send Lucien away to rehab for a few weeks.”

“You guys have rehabs? What are they disguised as?”

“High security mental facilities.” She chuckled a little at the look he gave her. “Look, wesen are always put in isolation and seen by wesen doctors in those places. Totally safe for the human patients… Most of the time. Every now and then there’s a super crazy fucked up wesen that goes and stabs a bunch of people in those places.”

“Yikes.”

“Yep… But I doubt Damien will send Lucien away. It’s easy enough to rehabilitate a wesen through diet, learning to control the beast within and some herbal teas.” Mary finished off her wine. “That and some very, very heavy iron chains. Can’t go wrong with some of those.”

“I guess this means Lucien is going to miss out on a lot of school?”

“Yep. Dame’s is gonna have to tell Hugo about this… Fuck I wonder if this is gonna really fuck up his grades and stuff? Well the Summer holidays are gonna start up soon sooooooo, I guess making up some bullshit sickness will work out for them.”

Robert nodded a little and looked back over to Val and Damien. Val was always kinder when it came to these emotional moments. She could comfort people a lot better than he ever could. Damien, to his credit, wasn’t crying, but he was still very obviously distressed by this whole situation. Not that he could blame him. Who wouldn’t be distressed to learn that their child was in so much pain? 

Mary nudged Robert. “Come on, no time to space out. Time to move Lucien to the panic room.”

“Panic room?”

“It’s kind of an old thing but back in the day almost every wesen house had a small panic room in case of Grimm attacks. Most people don’t have one built into their house these days but it’s technically part of the whole Victorian wesen aesthetic so… yeah… Come on.” She walked over to Damien and put her hand on his shoulder. “Hey, whatever you decide to do we kind of need to move him before he wakes up.”

“… Yes… I should at least get him a fresh shirt to change into when he calms down enough to actually change… Mary, could you please take him down to the basement? I believe you know where the panic room is?”

Mary nodded and grabbed hold of Lucien’s legs, gesturing for Robert to help her out. He reluctantly did so and helped Mary carry Lucien off to the basement. Robert hadn’t been down here and was kind of surprised to see how normal it was. Lots of boxes, some baby things, and a small wine rack against the wall.

Mary placed Lucien’s legs down and pushed the wine rack to the side to revel a door with a light switch next to it. She opened the door and flicked on the light switch. It was a pretty small room that looked a lot more like a jail cell rather than a some kind of panic room. Hell, there was a heavy chain with handcuffs bolted to the floor. It was kind of unsettling to know that this was a place in Damien’s house. It made Robert wonder if Damien would have dragged him down here all those months ago when he said he was going to slowly torture him to death.

Damien quickly came down with a fresh set of clothes. He looked so tired and done with everything that was happening. “Ah, I think I should bring down mattress or at least a few cushions for him… Please remove the duct tape and get him chained up. We do not want him escaping and causing panic in the cul-de-sac.”

Robert passed Mary one of several knives that he had in his person at all times. While she worked on removing the tape, Robert gently nudged Damien. “You doing okay?”

“… My son is umkippen. This means a lot of sleepless nights and I will probably have to take days off work to deal with this.” He sighed heavily. “Lucien… my son… God I should have seen the signs, I should have seen it… Done more for him… It should not have gotten to this state.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault.” Said Robert. He wasn’t really sure what else he could say to make him feel better. Heck, he wasn’t sure if anything he could say would make it better. “You said it’s possible to rehabilitate an umkippen wesen, right? We can get him back to normal soon enough.” He had no idea if that was true or not.

“Yeah… At least Mary is here to help me out. It won’t be so bad.”

Mary dusted her hands off and walked out of the room. “Alright kids. Lucien’s all restrained for the moment. Now we should probably-” Mary was quickly cut off when Lucien, in wesen form, leapt out knocked her to the ground. He snarled as his claws dug into her leg. “FUCKING LITTLE SHIT!” She swiftly kicked the teen in the face and crawled away from him.

Lucien got knocked back but quickly scrambled to his feet and tried to run, quickly finding his arms were chained to the floor. He screeched at them, causing everyone’s ears to start ringing. Mary let out a small howl of pain while the Small’s let out a collective whimper.

Damien wasn’t having any of this and woged. He moved in close to his son and growled at him. “That’s enough Lucien.”

There was an intense standoff between the two murciélago. Both of them quietly growling and baring their teeth at each other. It almost reminded Robert a little of those animal documentaries he would sometimes watch where two dangerous animals would carefully size each other up before one would either back off or they would fight. Lucien tensed up and took a small step forward, letting out a threatening growl. In response Damien almost completely closed the gap between them, making no sound but just started intimidatingly at him.

After a few moments Lucien relaxed a little and slowly backed into the panic room. He was still in his wesen form, but he didn’t seem like he was going to be fighting them anytime soon. Damien quickly slammed the door shut and sighed. He was completely exhausted.

“I’ll have to call in sick and find a wesen doctor that will be able to give him some note to excuse him from school…” he mumbled. “I’ll have to consider drugging him to keep him calm… I’ll have to fight him to get him to eat anything when he’s in this state…” He looked over at Robert and Val, smiling sadly. “Thank you for brining Lucien home relatively unharmed. Mary and I can take it from here.”

Mary quickly ushered the Small’s out of the basement and to the front door. “I’ll keep you guys posted on what’s going on here… You’ll just need to give us some space. Please don’t some over unless one of us asks you to.”

“Um, why?” Asked Val.

“Lucien knows you two are Grimm’s,” said Mary. “He knows your scent in his wesen form. You two being around him if he’s having an episode will just make his condition worse. He needs to be around people he recognizes. Familial scents in his wesen state will help keep him calm… And look, Dames really appreciates what you guys did. Things would have been really fucked for Lucien if he had an episode at school and ate someone, hell the poor bastard might have fully woged in front of the normal people…”

Robert nodded a little. “Okay. We’ll keep in touch. Don’t either of you hesitate to call us if something happens. Okay? We’re right next door.”

The Small’s walked back to their house with Val quickly going inside while Robert stayed outside to smoke. If a wesen or the alcohol didn’t get him one of these days the cigarettes would. But in the meantime he was going to enjoy every last lungful of toxin he could.

He looked back over at Damien’s house and sighed a little. Damien and his kid were really fucked right now. Life had dealt them a rather shitty hand these past few months. The only good thing going for them at the moment was that Mary was living with them. She’d be able to help him out.

He took another slow drag and held it in his lungs for a bit before slowly letting it out. It felt good. He felt relaxed. A little too relaxed really. “… Crap. What do you want Joseph?”

Joseph chuckled a little. “Well gosh darn it. I guess you really set off my pheromones.” He took a few more steps towards Robert but stayed just out of arm’s reach.

“I repeat, what do you want?”

“I kind of thought my wife Mary was with you. You two seemed to be joined at the hip lately.”

Robert didn’t like the way he was saying that. It sounded a little sketchy. “Um, not really. We kind of just hang out sometimes.”

“Yes, well, did my darling wife go drinking with you tonight?”

“I didn’t go drinking.” Though with the night he was having he was going to see if Val wanted to have a glass or two of something while they watched trash TV. There had to be some garbage reality show on at the moment.

“Well do you have any idea where she is? I think she is ignoring my calls.”

“Then shouldn’t you ask why she is avoiding you instead of where she is?”

Robert could see Joseph’s passive demeanor starting to crack ever so slightly. “Well, considering you aren’t freaking out that means that Mary is at least somewhere safe. Is she even in Maple Bay or did she leave town for good?”

“You know, I can’t tell if you’re secretly an abusive fuck or are actually worried about her. Could possibly be both I guess.” He went to light up another cigarette, but Joseph knocked it out of his hand and grabbed his wrist in a vice like grip. The man was surprisingly strong.

“Don’t fuck with me Robert.” He growled. “I know I’m far from perfect and I am trying very hard to fix that for the sake of my kids. I’ve never once laid a hand on her or done anything that would cause physical injury to her. I’ve treated her well.”

The sudden skin contact was making Robert’s head go all foggy. It was difficult to keep his thoughts in order. “Fuck off. I don’t care if you think you treated her well. Mary is safe and fine where she is. She’ll talk to you when she feels good and ready.”

“What am I going to tell my kids?” Joseph was quickly starting to come undone the more he mentioned his kids. “They are asking about their mother. What am I going to say?”

“Tell them that Mary’s staying with a friend.” He pulled his arm away from Joseph and pushed him away. “Lying through your teeth shouldn’t be too hard for you. You’ve probably lied to them about where you’ve been and who you’ve been fucking behind Mary’s back for years… I don’t understand monsters like you. Why the fuck would you pull someone into a marriage if you just wanted to fuck whoever you want?”

Joseph seemed to have a calm exterior but Robert could see in his eyes that he was completely pissed off. “Robert, you could never really understand my reasons and motivations… Look, if you can get in contact with Mary, please tell her I want to sit down and talk with her.”

“Will do. Now go home before you make a scene. Wouldn’t want your kids to see you getting your ass kicked.”

Joseph glared at him, but reluctantly went back to his home. Robert sighed a little and put out his cigarette. Mary would probably be pleased to know Joseph was looking for her at this time. Then again she might just be pissed off by it or something. It was hard to tell with her.

He went back into the house and was immediately greeted by Val holding a shot glass of whiskey. “Here you go old man,” she said. “I think after tonight we both need some.”

“Cheers.” He took the shot, relishing in the burning feeling that raced down his throat. He wanted another, but he knew he shouldn’t. He wouldn’t. Not tonight anyway. “You know what Val?”

“Hmm?”

“Fuck this wesen bullshit.”

She laughed in agreement. “Fuck that wesen bullshit.”

“Fuck it all.

“Fuck it all to hell.”


	39. Options

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, quick note about updates and stuff... I know I've been pretty consistent with posting updates but I have a few issues going on. This is why I haven't updated every few days and it's been more like a week (or over a week) since I posted anything. Long story short until my issues are fixed updates will possibly be once a week or once every two weeks. That's all. Enjoy.

“… Well fuck.” That was all Lucien could say as he woke up in a small room in handcuffs that were bolted to the floor. All he could remember from last night was talking to Ernest in the park, feeling really sick, and then feeling really hungry. After that it was all a blank, but he must have fucked up really badly if he was in this situation.

He attempted to sit up and immediately noticed the pain in his fingers. He had cut them up pretty badly. This wasn’t good. He dragged himself over to the door. It looked like some prison cell door. There was a tiny barred window up the top with a little door and some slim flap down the bottom big enough for a tray fit through. 

Lucien did not like this and started to kick the door. “Hey! Let me out fucker!

Moments later the small door on tiny barred window opened up and Mary was looking right at him. “No need to swear kid. Glad to see you’re back to normal now.”

“What? Normal?” It didn’t take Lucien long to have a vague idea what was going on. “… Did I hurt someone? Shit, is Ernest okay?”

“Um, I think he’s okay. Did you do something to him?” She asked.

“… Never mind,” muttered Lucien. “So am I at least still at home or what? Where’s dad?”

Mary hesitated a little. “Look, your dad is fine, he’s just sleeping at the moment. He was really tired when Robert and Val carted your dumb wesen ass home last night.”

“… I woged last night?”

“Yeah, sorry to say it, but you’re suffering an umkippen. You’re not gonna be allowed out for a few weeks. Gotta get it under control.”

Lucien groaned in annoyance and head butted the door. “Fuck… Just my luck huh? First I couldn’t fucking control it, and then I could, and now this… I can’t fucking do anything right. This is the worst…”

Mary sighed a little. “Hey, look at me Lucien. This is not your fault. Shit happens. It sucks that so much has happened to you in one go, but that’s okay. You’re gonna get through this. I believe in you.”

“… What can I do about it?”

“Your dad will probably want to talk to you about that,” said Mary. “Until then want something to eat? Maybe your phone? Not sure how good the reception is down there but still, better than nothing, right?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Lucien sighed a little and sat back down. 

This was just the worst. Being umkippen was one of the worst things a wesen could be. His dad had all kinds of books about wesen culture. In the old days wesen that became umkippen were willingly given over to Grimm’s or murdered by other wesen to keep themselves hidden from humans. It was for the greater good. He knew his dad wouldn’t kill him, but he was still kind of scared that murder was considered a viable option, even today. At least according to what he had read.

It felt like he had been left alone for hours so he jumped a little when the heavy door opened up and his dad walked in. Damien was carrying a few pillows, a blanket and a few things in a metal bucket. He set them down and pulled Lucien into a hug.

“I’m so glad you’re okay…” His voice wavered a little as he spoke, but he was undoubtedly happy. “Let’s concentrate on getting you back to your normal self shall we?” He pulled back and pulled a first aid kit out of the bucket. “Please allow me to bandage your hands.”

Lucien held out his hands and let Damien dab disinfectant on them and bandage each one. It stung a little but he did his best not to flinch or draw his hands back. The silence between them made Lucien feel sick. It was worse than all the times he had gotten sent home early from school for quote unquote antisocial behavior. He could practically feel the disappointment radiating from Damien.

“… I’m sorry.”

“I’m not your fault Lucien,” said Damien quietly. “This is no more your fault than it is your fault that sun rises and sets each day. You are going to get through this. We will get through this. I brought you some spare clothes and some pillows to make yourself more comfortable. Mary and I will try to bring your mattress down mater today.”

“Thanks… So um, am I going to have to shit in the bucket?”

Damien smiled a little and shook his head. He seemed to be happy that Lucien was still very blunt with him despite his situation. “Please Lucien. There is no need for such language. You will be allowed to use the bathroom upstairs, however either Mary or I will have to take you just to make sure you don’t accidentally woge and try to escape. I understand this is difficult, but please try to understand this is for your own good.”

“I know dad but… what happens if this doesn’t work. What then?” Lucien was doing his best not to show it but he was actually scared about what was going to happen if this didn’t work.

“Well…” Damien seemed to hesitate a little. “You have two other options; you can either go to a medical facility for a while to get rehabilitated. Unfortunately there are very few places that treat wesen whom are umkippen. The closest facility is two states over and I do not wish to send you that far if I can help it. There’s also no guarantee it will work… and I would want to visit you every day.”

Lucien didn’t like that idea either. He didn’t want to get sent away. He was already a freak enough at school. He could already imagine how much more ostracized he was going to be if people found out he got sent to a nut house. Rumors would spread that he was suicidal or heard voices or some other bullshit. He didn’t want that stigma.

“The other option-” continued Damien. “-is that Mary and I brew a repressor for your wesen side that you will have to take for the rest of your life. It will essentially completely shut down your ability to woge and you will practically be human. You will still be able to see other wesen but that is pretty much it.” He put his hand of Lucien’s shoulder and gently squeezed. “I don’t want either of these things for you… I don’t want to send you away or force you to hide who you truly are.”

“I-I don’t want that either.” Lucien felt so small. He wasn’t in control of anything anymore. It wasn’t fair. He tried not to show it but he was scared. There was just so much he didn’t know anymore. Heck, he didn’t even know what he had gotten up to while he was in his wesen state.

Damien pulled him into a hug. “It’s okay. We will only resort to those methods if this does not work. Now, it is important that we purge your stomach of any meat or bones you have ingested during your night out.” He handed Lucien the bucket at a drink bottle filled with an opaque yellow liquid. “Mary’s recipe never failed to get us out of going to school in our youth.”

“… Do I even want to know?”

“It’s best if you just drink as much of it as you can in one gulp and get ready for a rough time.” He took a few bobby pins out of his pockets and pinned Lucien’s side fringe back. “After you’ve purged we’ll talk about what we’re going to have to do to rehabilitate you…”

“Okay dad…” Lucien knocked back as much of the mystery liquid as he possibly could in one gulp and promptly emptied his stomach into the bucket. Whatever was in it was completely foul and disgusting.

***

Mary’s recipe was nothing that fantastic or secretive. It was just whole milk, buttermilk, a generous amount of mustard from a squeeze bottle, and a large dollop of mustard all blended together. If you could swallow it you’d vomit everything in your stomach and then some. You’d feel like shit afterwards but you’d be fine in a minute or two.

The thing that Mary didn’t like was cleaning the blender out after mixing up the stuff. The smell alone could make her vomit. But this time it was for a good cause. Step one of Lucien’s rehabilitation was going completely vegetarian. Not that hard since he was already one before the umkippen. The hard part was going to be when he got stressed and woged unexpectedly. His wesen side was carnivorous and it was going to be a challenge to keep that side of him from trying to eat anything with a heartbeat.

There was a knock at the door. Mary half expected it to be Robert but wasn’t surprised to see Joseph. He looked surprised to see her, but immediately broke into a relieved smile. “There you are honey. I thought I was going to have to send a search party out for you.”

He went to hug her but she moved back. “Yeah, well you found me. Now go away.”

“Honey, please be reasonable here. We can work this out. Just come home. The kids are asking about you.”

“You can tell them that I’m at Dame’s place,” she said coldly. “Now go away.”

“Please Mary, we can talk about this when we get home.”

Mary rolled her eyes. “Look, right now I really can’t go with you. This isn’t just a marriage thing, which by the way I am getting a lawyer for, but this is also a wesen thing.”

Joseph sighed a little and crossed his arms. “I thought we agreed that this predator prey wesen stuff was rubbish. That we were mature enough to look past it. We’ve made it work for well over a decade now.”

“You have a weird definition of what qualifies as a functional relationship.” She glanced back into the house. Damien had been down there with Lucien for a long time. She really should go and check on them soon. “Besides this has nothing to do with us. This is very much a Bloodmarch problem. Lucien’s done fucked up and now he’s… umkippen.”

The blond man looked completely stunned to hear this. Any and all hostility he had was quickly replaced with concern with a hint of fear. “Are you sure? How bad is it? Is Damien going to send him off for a while?”

“Look, I think we caught it early so with any luck it’ll be over in a week, a month at the most. Until then Damien can’t be the only one looking after Lucien. I have to be here too. We need predator wesen to take look after him. The only other predator here is Craig, and he’s got his own little monsters to look after.”

“Get Robert to help.”

Mary rolled her eyes. “We want to help Lucien get control of his wesen side, not send him into a frenzied attack mode or something. His wesen side already has Robert’s scent. Just go home and tell the kids I’ll be over sometime.”

“But when?”

“I don’t fucking know Joseph.” She snapped. “Grow the fuck up, tell your latest fuck toy you have to cancel your rendezvous to fuck him, and look after the fucking kids. Can’t you keep it in your pants for longer than five minutes? You’re worse than a horny teenager.” 

She went to slam the door in his face, but he managed to catch it and hold it open. “Now dear, I know you are angry with me right now. I would be angry too if I were in your position. However, I would like you to take this time dealing with this… umkippen business to perhaps clear your head and rethink this divorce situation. Think of the kids.”

“… I will slam this door on your fingers.” She snarled. The second Joseph moved his hand away Mark closed the door. She shook her head and heavily huffed out her nose. She could tell when Joseph was using his pheromones even if she couldn’t do much about it but snarl and snap at him.

The basement door closed and Mary watched a slightly disheveled Damien walking to the kitchen with a bloodied bucket. She followed him and watched him pour the bloodied gunk into the sink. He got a wooden spoon and started to poke around.

Mary cringed a little and walked over to him. “How’d the purge go?”

Damien sighed a little and shook his head. “Lucien managed to purge his system completely, but he quickly turned and tried to attack me… I think he ate a rabbit last night. Does this look like a rabbit ear to you?”

She looked into the sink and frowned a little. “Yeah… You okay though? He didn’t get you to badly did he?”

“Lucien couldn’t even scratch me.” He turned on the garbage disposal and gently pushed the bloody chunks down it. “He might have youth on his side, but compared to other bat wesen he’s more like an annoying yapping dog. I’m just thankful he’s smart enough to back off when I snarl at him.”

“Well he probably knows your scent. He knows not to fight his dad.”

Damien chuckled a little and nodded. “Ah yes. That might be it. I’m glad I’m one of those wesen’s that have strong family ties.” He sighed. “I should really talk to Hugo about borrowing any books he has on wesen rehabilitation…”

Mary nodded a little. It was at times like this she was glad that there was a huge nerd living in the cul-de-sac. Hugo was pretty smart and had all kinds of books on history in his place. He would probably know about some old wesen story about how to cure an umkippen wesen. Then go on about how it was completely medically inaccurate it was and how those wesen probably all died horribly. He was a barrel of laughs that Hugo.

She put her hand on Damien’s shoulder and gently squeezed. “It’ll be fine. Lucien will be fine.”

“Yes, I know…” He sighed a little and rinsed out the bucket. “I do worry about him so much Mary. Although I have a plethora of knowledge about our kind there is still so much that I do not know… Is umkippen a physical thing? A mental thing? Both? Are we more susceptible to this because we are predator wesen? Maybe it’s because emotions overwhelm murciélago’s more than other wesen? Maybe we’re more susceptible to it?”

“You’re rambling again.”

“… Sorry.”

“It’s fine Dames. You go and make some more calls. I’ll go down and make sure Lucien’s alright.”

“Thank you.”

Mary patted his back and walked down to the basement. She knocked on the door to the panic room. “You doing okay in there Lucien?” She heard a snarl and something heavy slam against the door. “Yeah, you’re fine.”


	40. Confidential

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been feeling a lot better over the past few days so here's the next chapter. Hope ya'll enjoy it.

Hugo was more than a little shocked to see Damien at his doorstep in the afternoon. He already knew that Lucien wasn’t going to be at school for a while. He’d been informed about it when he asked around the office to see if Lucien was cutting class again. Though he wasn’t really sure why Damien was here. Hugo had given Lucien’s homework to Ernest to give him when the teen got around to coming home.

“Hello Damien,” he said with a smile. “Would you like to come in?”

Damien nodded a little. “If you wouldn’t mind… I have some pressing matters to discuss with you regarding Lucien’s state of being.”

Hugo welcomed Damien in and went to put the kettle on. “Make yourself at home. Are you good with black tea?”

“Ah, you do not have to go to such troubles for me Hugo. I am intending to make this visit as short as possible.” Damien took a seat on the couch while Hugo sat in the arm chair across from him. The tension was high and it was making Hugo uncomfortable.

“So, what seems to be the problem with Lucien? Does it have something to do with Ernest?” Though his son was getting better now that they had Duchess Cordelia, Ernest still had a tendency to act out and get into all kinds of trouble if he didn’t check in on him every once in a while. “If it does have something to do with him-”

“Oh good heavens no,” interrupted Damien. “Ernest has nothing to do with Lucien’s current condition… I would actually be shocked if Ernest had anything to do with it. You see, Lucien is…” he nervously played with the hem of his cloak. “Umkippen… For at least a few weeks Lucien has been walking through the woods behind the park and well… It is unfortunate to say, but he has been actively killing and eating whatever he can safely kill himself.”

Hugo was shocked to say the least. Sure he knew Lucien had his problems but he never expected this. “Oh, I see… I’ll do what I can to make sure he doesn’t fall too far behind. If you haven’t thought of a medical excuse for his absence yet can I suggest glandular fever? Highly contagious and relatively common among high school students and it would knock him out of school for a minimum of at least three months.”

Damien thought about it for a moment before nodding slowly. “That is… yes. That sounds like a suitable illness. I shall get onto getting the correct doctors notes. Until then, I was wondering if you have any books that speak of or reference any techniques for umkippen rehabilitation. I really do not wish to send Lucien away for electroshock therapy if that is possible.”

Hugo had to agree with that. Admittedly it was extremely difficult to get any kind of funding into wesen problems seeing as how they had to keep their existence a secret from the wider community. Most information they had about their own illnesses was from learning about illnesses specific to their own wesen biology. Every now and then someone would know someone who would give them money to do some good for the wesen community, but it didn’t happen often. Even rarer were the results of such research getting distributed among the wesen populous. They were still using archaic methods such as electroshock therapy and lobotomies to cure extreme cases of umkippen for crying out loud.

“Understandable,” said Hugo. “I wouldn’t want to send Ernest to a place like that if he ever experienced the same thing. I believe I have a book that has some references to modern wesen medical practices. I think the last time anyone bothered to give us common folk any information was during the Edwardian era.” He got up and had a quickly look through his bookshelves to see if he had it out there.

Damien cringed a little at the mention of the Edwardian era. “Yes, things need to be updated. We live within the twenty-first century for crying out loud. Surely someone has done something? With communication the way it is now I cannot see how we do not know more about ourselves.”

“That’s just the way some things are I suppose.” Hugo handed a book to Damien. “Here. This is the best I can do for you. If you need anything just come by and let me know.”

“I will thank you.” Damien took the book from him and quickly flipped through it. “Um… What are you going to tell Ernest? He and Lucien are quite close, or at least they always seem to be getting into trouble together. I’m sure he will miss his partner in crime.”

Hugo hadn’t thought about that. He didn’t want to lie and say that Lucien was sick. That would just make Ernest angry at him, and lord knew Ernest held more than distain towards him on a good day. “Well, I do not want to lie to Ernest and Lucien’s condition if he asks, but I don’t think it would be right for me to tell him about his condition…”

“I think it would be alright if you tell Ernest,” said Damien. “In a few days Lucien might enjoy a brief visit, even if there is a door between them.”

“… Have you converted your panic room into a cell?”

Damien nodded. “Indeed. During the Victorian era many upper class wesen had a tendency to indulge in their more animalistic pleasures which would cause them to become umkippen. They were often locked away in panic rooms until they either died or were able to break themselves away from their animalistic nature.”

“It’s a good thing we live in a world where modern medicine is available.”

“Yes… Anyway, Ernest is welcome to come by whenever he pleases. I promise that his visits will be monitored so that no harm comes to him. Though I doubt anything will happen.” He stood up and clutched the book tightly to his chest. “Thank you again my friend. I shall return your book as soon as I am done with it.”

“Take all the time you need.” Hugo walked Damien to the front door. From there he could see Ernest walking into the cul-de-sac eating from a bag of lord knows what from some fast food place. He grunted a little as he passed Hugo and made his way up to his room. He seemed in high spirits today, so Hugo followed him up. “Ernest, we need to have a little talk.”

Ernest let out an annoyed groan. “Whatever it was I didn’t do it this time. Unless it was something that I actually did I am innocent until proven guilty.”

Hugo did not like the sound of that. He’d worry about what Ernest might or might not have done later. He sat down on the edge of Ernest’s bed and gestured for him to do the same. His son gave him a skeptical glare but complied.

“What?” He grunted.

“This is about Lucien.” Said Hugo calmly. “I guess you noticed he wasn’t at school today?”

Ernest looked a little uneasy. “Yeah… Did something happen to him?”

“Yes… Now this isn’t easy to talk about, but Lucien isn’t going to be coming to school for a while. It’s unfortunate but Lucien is umkippen.”

“… What?” Ernest looked completely shocked. His reaction wasn’t a surprise to Hugo. Being umkippen was almost the equivalent to finding out a neighbor was a serial killer in the wesen community. At least with wesen there was a very good chance at rehabilitation. A way better chance than what humans had. It would have been a lot for Ernest to take in.

Hugo put his hand on Ernest’s shoulder. “I know this is a lot, but Damien came over and informed me about their situation. He’s going to be okay but you won’t be seeing him for a while. They are going to go with the story that Lucien has glandular fever. That should give them enough time.”

Ernest still looked shocked. He had this glazed over look in his eyes. Maybe he was trying to think back to see if he could have seen any signs? Hugo didn’t know. “How long? How long had he been like this?”

“Damien estimates maybe a few weeks. He thinks Lucien’s been in the woods behind the park hunting and eating small animals.”

“Oh… So he was… last night?”

“I would assume so. I doubt Damien would have known Lucien was umkippen unless he was in his wesen state last night.”

Ernest nodded a little, looking uncharacteristically unemotional. “Can I see him?”

“Not for a few days I’m afraid. Lucien’s going to be very dangerous and unpredictable for a while. His wesen side is going to be fighting to escape, especially if he is feeling trapped right now.” Considering Lucien’s disregard for authority he couldn’t imagine he was going to be completely complacent with his sudden entrapment by Damien. He did not envy Damien’s position.

“… Okay.”

Hugo gently squeezed Ernest’s shoulder. “He’s going to be okay. Just give him some time Ernest.”

“… I guess.”

“It’ll be okay. Really.” Hugo tried to smile reassuringly at Ernest. He knew that they were going to be safe. Everyone in the cul-de-sac were going to be fine. 

Damien would have gone all out with his panic room. Probably had more restraints and chains in that place than any other person depending on how authentic he was going to make it to a true Victorian era wesen panic room. But then again he was also a father. He doubted that Damien was going to restrain his son so that he couldn’t move. He’d restrain him enough so that he couldn’t hurt himself or others.

***

It was sad, but it was now time for Val to head home. Robert had called her a cab and had helped her pack. He was sad to see her go, but was happy with the progress they made. They weren’t going to be making any huge family plans in the near future, but they would at least be calling each other more often now, and not talk about Grimm stuff.

Val sat on the couch and happily cuddled Betsy, who was happily licking her face. “I’m gonna miss you too girl,” said Val. “You’re so cute.”

Robert chuckled a little and gave Betsy a few pats. “I’m going to miss you Val.”

“Yeah, well I have a job to get back to dad. You sure you’re going to be okay now?”

“Well, apart from hexenbiest thing I think I was doing pretty well on my own.”

“That’s debatable. Wouldn’t you agree Betsy?” She looked down at the dopy mutt. The dog looked up at her and tilted her head so fast her hers flopped and slapped around her head. “She agrees with me, dad.”

Robert faked shock. “Betsy? Is that how you really feel?” The dopy dog barked at him and ran off into the depths of the house. She was a truly strange one that Betsy. But she was a very good girl. “By the way, thanks for your help with Lucien.”

“No problem old man. Always happy to help. I’m just glad that we didn’t end up killing him. That wouldn’t have gone down well with your boyfriend.”

“Yeah, pretty sure he would have murdered me if that happened.” Robert wasn’t exaggerating either. He legitimately thought Damien would murder him if he had killed Lucien. He certainly was capable of doing it if he damn well pleased. “Anyway, you got all your stuff together?”

Val smiled and tapped her travel bag. “Yep. All sorted out.” The sound of taxi horn signaled their arrival. “Well, time to go I guess…”

“Yeah.” Robert walked Val to the door and gave her a hug. “You have a safe trip back, and call me when you get home.”

“I will dad.”

“And tell Megan I said hi.”

Val chuckled and lightly nudged him. “Man, you’ve gotten all soft and stuff in your old age dad. I’ll miss you.” She put her bag in the trunk of the taxi and waved goodbye to him one more time before she left.

Robert watched the taxi pull out of the cul-de-sac and sighed. He rather liked having Val over, though he wished that they had met up under more favorable circumstances. Maybe the next time she was over things would be better. Now that her visit was over, Robert could only hope that things would start to die down a little. Doing Grimm stuff was fun and all, but running around so much was murder on his back and joints.


	41. Movie night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, gonna try and get another chapter out early next week before I have to go and do some health stuff so my body starts functioning properly again. Soooooo, enjoy.

It was only day three of Lucien’s rehabilitation and Mary was already tired of it. Mainly because she had ended up with a few deep scratches on her arms from when the teen had decided to try and eat her. To escape her situation she ended up hopping the fence and parking her ass on Robert’s couch for a few hours. 

Robert was a little surprised to see this, but he wasn’t going to question it. He managed to find her some wine and poured her a glass. The two of them relaxed while watching the 1942 classic; Casablanca. Robert didn’t really put it on to watch it but it was more of a background noise kind of thing. 

Mary didn’t seem to care for the movie either and seemed more interested in her wine and lightly scratching Betsy’s belly. The fat little dog kicked her paws up in the air while her tongue lazily flopped out the side of her mouth. She looked like she was grinning.

“Things okay with Lucien?” Asked Robert.

Mary sighed a little. “Well he scratched me up the other night, and I caught him eating a roach the other day so… He’s getting better. He’s doing much better than I expected him to. I guess we caught it just in time.”

“Yeah… Is he gonna get in trouble for you know, eating a hexenbiest?”

She laughed and finished off her drink. “Why would he get in trouble? It was a hexenbiest. He isn’t even gonna get sick from it. Wesen aren’t human. We aren’t gonna get any human diseases from eating them. That’s just how it is.”

“Huh… alright.” He whistled at Betsy and the pup quickly raced over to him and started pawing at his pant leg. He picked her up and put her next to him. She rested her head on his lap and wagged her tail like crazy.

“So what are you doing these days?” Asked Mary. “Now that you have like fuck all to do?”

“Gonna kick back and just go with the flow for a while,” said Robert. “I don’t want to do anything crazy. My back hurts… and I just jinxed myself, didn’t I?”

“Yep.” Mary put her glass on the ground and stretched. “… It’s been a while since you and Dames have gone on a date, right?”

“Yeah…”

“I’ll try and talk Dames into going out with you on Friday. Just like, have him come over for a movie and share a pizza or like make some vegetarian pasta dish thing. I’m pretty sure he’ll be down for that. He needs to get out of the house for a bit.”

“Like you did?”

“Yep. But I have recently discovered that Damien has a rocking chair in the basement. So all I need is that and one of my trashy erotica novels.” She sighed wistfully. “Oh Antonio, take me away to have passionate sex on the high seas while fighting the British imperial bastards.”

“Thought you were reading some erotic mystery novels?”

“Yeah, but I left those at Joseph’s place. I don’t wanna go there unless I absolutely have to.”

“Fair enough.” Robert looked at his DVD collection and hummed a little. “You think he’d like an art house horror thing, or would a comedy be better?”

“Comedy.”

***

Mary was quickly getting annoyed with Damien. “You were already stressed as fuck before all this shit happened. Go and watch a movie with your boyfriend. I can look after you boy for a night.” She lightly tapped on the panic room door for emphasis. “It’s just next door.” 

Damien sighed a little as he continued to pace around the basement. He wasn’t stressed. He was just concerned. Anyone would be concerned in his position. Lucien’s spontaneous violent outbursts had subsided for now but he was starting to do partial woges. This was better, it meant he was slowly getting control again. But if he lost his concentration for even a split second he would be back to his primal wesen state.

“It’s okay Mary. I need to be here for Lucien. Robert understands.”

“You two have gone on like, two dates… I think? You’re such a nerd Dames.” She sat down in the rocking chair and sighed a little. Damien was pushing himself way to hard again. “Just go out and have some fun for a night. I’m not telling you to get laid, just got to his place, watch a movie, pat his dog… Okay that sounded kind of sexual but I meant Betsy. You can trust me. I’ll just sit down here, read my books and shoot Lucien with a taser when he gets all twitchy.”

“Mary!”

“I’m joking. I will zap him if he looks at me funny.”

“Mary please…” He sighed a little. “This is not something I wish to joke about. I do not feel comfortable leaving Lucien alone for so long.”

“Do I get a say in this?” Asked Lucien.

Damien jumped a little in surprise and opened up the small window on the door. “I didn’t realise you were awake Lucien. Were we too loud? I deeply apologise for disturbing you.”

Lucien groaned. “Dad, go out and have some fun for once. Mary’s right. I’m not going to be able to go anywhere anyway. I’m chained to the floor.” He rattled his chains and struck them against the door. “Even if I somehow manage to open the door, I can’t get out of these chains. I’m not getting out of this.”

The older Bloodmarch sighed and looked between his son and Mary. “Fine, I shall go out with Robert, if it’s just to his house. I shan’t stay the night. Only a few hours. Will that placate you two?”

Mary nodded, “Yep. I’ll bring down that old portable TV and Lucien and I can have a movie night of our own.”

“I want popcorn!”

“You can have your popcorn. Hell I’ll order pizza too.”

Damien sighed and shook his head. “Popcorn yes, but no pizza. You need to be on as much raw food as possible. Popcorn is just a treat. Okay?”

Lucien managed to stick his hand out of the tiny barred window and give them both a thumb’s up. “Got it, but I want enough butter and salt on it to put me into cardiac arrest.” 

Mary laughed. “I would smother it in lard if it wasn’t made of animal fat.”

“Just melt that shit and inject it into my veins.”

“Language Lucien.”

***

It took Mary a fair bit of convincing and preparation, but she finally got Damien out of the house. He would only leave once he knew that Mary and Lucien were going to be safe. Damien wasn’t pleased with Mary’s suggestion of hitting Lucien repeatedly with an old fire poker she found in the basement if he got out of control and woged. He did however agree to let her use a broom. Lucien agreed to that too. He didn’t feel like getting the shit beaten out of him with a metal rod.

With him gone, Mary set up an old TV. It wasn’t some fancy LCD TV it was an old school TV. It had bunny antenna and dials on the side. The remote that came with it had been lost years ago and probably wouldn’t work anyway. They weren’t going to be able to watch any TV channels, but Mary could hook up the VCR and they could watch old movies.

She put the TV in front of the door and opened it up so that Lucien could see it. He had made himself comfortable in the doorway with a pillow and a bowl of popcorn. He was still handcuffed and chained to the floor of the room, but he was fine. They drew a semi-circle in chalk around the doorway so they had an idea of how far Lucien’s reach was while he was chained up.

This was the perfect opportunity to watch scary movies. The pair were lounging around and happily watching the slasher classic, Sleepaway camp. It was a schlocky mess, but they were both thankful they had got their hands on the theatrical cut instead of the made for TV cut. In this one they could see the snake coming out of the dead kid’s mouth and the bodies of the butchered kids in their sleeping bags. Plus it was made with actual teen actors and not twenty and thirty year olds pretending to be teens which meant they couldn’t shoot any nudity. It was unsettling and they loved it.

About halfway through the movie Lucien spoke up. “You know, no one getting murdered doesn’t deserve it.”

Mary shrugged. “Eh, some of the reasons are paper thin, but yeah. All those little bastards deserved to die. Especially that child molesting fuck.”

“Yeah.”

They faintly heard the doorbell ring, Mary paused the video and went to see who it was. If it was Joseph she was going to snarl at him and slam the door shut in his face. Much to her surprise and relief it was Ernest. She hadn’t had much interaction with the young, moody teen, but she knew enough about him to know he looked nervous as fuck.

She leaned against the door frame and smiled a little at him. “Does your dad know you’re here?”

“No.”

“You want to come in and see Lucien?”

“Yeah…”

“… You don’t need to be nervous. Lucien isn’t a monster.”

“I know that.” His voice sounded unsure. “So can I see him or not?”

Mary sighed and pushed the door open. “Come on in. We’re watching a movie in the basement. You good with slashers?”

“Yeah…” He shoved his hands in his pockets and quickly walked down to the basement. He paused on the steps when he saw Lucien but started moving again when Mary nudged him. “Hey Lucien.”

Lucien was surprised to see Ernest but waved at him anyway. “Hey… What are you doing here?”

“Well if you don’t want company I’ll just go.”

“Shut up and sit down. We’re watching Sleepaway camp.”

Ernst went to sit next to Lucien, but Mary quickly pulled him back. “Stay on this side of the chalk kid. You don’t want to be in clawing range if he woges.” After warning him she patted his back and pressed play on the TV. Back to the bloody teen slasher.

After a while Mary tired of all the murder and started flipping through her erotica. She was skipping to the smutty parts of course. Everyone wanted to read about a strapping young rouge or a man brandishing and thrusting his member into all the right places, right? Maybe it was just her. Either way she was having trouble finding the right chapter.

She would glance up at the teens every now and then to make sure that they were okay. She caught Ernest giving Lucien weird looks every now and then. Perhaps it was his natural prey instincts that were telling him that Lucien was dangerous at the moment? Then again he could just find it weird that Mary was in the same room as them. But he might have seen the cover of her book and got weirded out.

Mary cleared her throat a little and pointed to a box of VHS tapes. “When you’re done with that rewind the tape and put something else in, if you know how to work a VCR.”

“We got it Mary.” Said Lucien.

“Good. Now keep it down I’m reading.” This was a trick she had picked up on while looking after her kids. They seemed to think she was completely distracted when she had a book in front of her face and would go about their business. It was how she learnt that the twins were using the iPad to look up scary movie quotes. She was pretty sure that this trick would work somewhat well on teens. She just had to keep a neutral face, keep her eyes on the page in front of her, and turn the page once in a while. If they weren’t going to whisper to each other she’d just go back to trying to find the porn in her book.

Luckily for her the teens seemed to want to talk so she could easily eavesdrop on them. Way more entertaining for her than a slasher flick or badly written porn. But after a while she’d probably tune the teenage melodrama out for reading her erotica again. She needed to ask Damien if his library had the whole series of this particular pirate erotica.

“You getting any better?” Asked Ernest quietly.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Most days anyway. Some days it’s bad, but you gotta do it one day at a time, you know what I mean?”

“I guess… What’s it like?”

Lucien chuckled a little. “Being umkippen? It’s weird. I don’t remember anything that happened. Apparently I ate a hexenbiest.”

“No shit?”

“Yeah… I also have some trouble remembering stuff before and after it happens. I just remember feeling really sick, and then nothing till the next morning.”

“That sucks… What do you remember about the night we met up?”

“Fucked if I know man… Shit about you having a crush on someone I think? After that it was just a wave of nausea, hunger, and nothing. Then I woke up in here… I was worried about you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I was umkippen. I was all bloodied and shit. I thought I did something to you. Turns out I ate a rabbit or something.”

“That’s rough… I thought you were avoiding me or some shit.”

“Why would I avoid you?”

“… No reason.”

“Did I give you shit advice or something?”

“You were just the regular shit lord you’ve always been… I’m just glad you’re getting help. How much longer are you going to be here?”

“Until I’m better. If I’m down here for longer than a week I’m gonna ask for a UV light. I need to get some of that vitamin D.” The two of them laughed a little and paused to watch another person get murdered on screen. “Yeah… So do you have a crush on someone?”

“Dude, we already went through that once I’m not going to go through it again… Pretty damn sure they don’t like me so whatever. Fuck it. Crushes are dumb.”

“They are. Want to watch the exorcist two after this and make fun of it? It has the guy that does Darth Vader’s voice dressed in some weird ritualistic locust costume.”

“Fuck yeah.”

Mary smiled a little to herself and rolled her eyes. She was glad that they were both happy with each other, but damn teenagers were dumb. She hoped that Robert and Damien were having just as an eventful evening as they were.


	42. Stress fueled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, so this is the last chapter I'll be posting for a little while. Because I'm going into hospital for a few days and when I get home I'll probably not feel like writing for a while. Until I an make it back I hope you all enjoy this chapter :D

Robert knew this date with Damien wasn’t going too well. Damien was way too anxious about Lucien to enjoy himself. He sat on the edge of the couch and had his arms tightly wrapped around himself. Not even Betsy’s happy demeanor couldn’t change his mood. Even after she brought him almost all her toys to play with, he still didn’t seem to care. He only paid attention to her when she started to whimper and whine.

He patted her and smiled sadly. “I’m sorry dearest Betsy. I am very much concerned for my son at the moment. Please try to understand…”

This just depressed Robert. He knew that he wasn’t going to be completely relaxed, but he had hoped that Damien would feel okay and relax a little. Heck he was more depressed than annoyed at the moment really. Robert thought that things were going to be okay. It obviously wasn’t.

He picked up Betsy and put her on Damien’s lap. “Just hug her or something. She’s been trying to get your attention ever since you walked in.”

Damien was a bit surprised by this but gladly cuddled Betsy anyway. “I haven’t been able to go to the animal shelter since Lucien… It is nice to hold a dog again.”

“Yeah… Your kind really get all caught up in your emotions, don’t you?”

“… Yes. It is a typical trait in bat wesen. It’s obvious in many pieces of human literature about vampires.” Damien gave Betsy a few scratches behind the ears and sighed sadly. “Though sadly most media tends to concentrate mainly on the feelings of lust and gluttony… The only thing I have read, well seen, about vampires and how they deal with the feelings of sorrow and grief portrayed accurately would be in this TV show based of a Japanese video game. Would you be familiar with the Castlevania series?”

“… That’s a made up word.”

Damien chuckled a little. “When I was younger I would watch Mary play it and get very scared at the terrible, horrible pixelated blood, and I only managed to watch the opening of the first episode before I had to leave the room… But it accurately portrayed the over the top levels of emotion our kind is known for. Anyway, my point is we experience many of our emotions are very well… intense.”

“I know. I read up about your kind.” Robert didn’t want to sound derogatory or anything, but he had been going through his books to try and find any information about umkippen and bat-like wesen. Apparently his ancestors had been very black and white on the issue. In general that pretty much just mean murder them. Murder them quickly.

Damien looked surprised for a moment before putting on a nervous smile. “Ah, I guess you would, wouldn’t you? Being a Grimm and all you would probably know more about me than I do.”

“Not really. All I really know about you is what you look like and what you can do. I’ve learnt far more about you from watching you in action. You guys kick ass. Remind me to never get on your bad side.”

“Yeah…” Damien had an almost unreadable expression on his face. The man clearly had something on his mind. “When a wesen woges it is painful. Some woges are more painful than others and usually only comes out as a fight or flight reaction. We get a rush of adrenaline and the whatever emotion we feel at the time completely takes us over, if only for a few moments. Umkippen… their adrenaline doesn’t stop flowing, or at least flows longer than usual. As a result whatever emotion they are feeling is heightened for longer and lasts longer…” He gave Betsy a few more pats and put her on the ground. “I am worried about Lucien…”

Robert sighed a little. “Let me guess; angry teenager getting stressed and goes into a rage? Is it more dangerous since he is the kind of wesen he is?”

“… Yes. And even if he is cured there is a chance he can relapse if he is not careful. I might have to consider putting him on a vegan diet… He’ll hate me for that. He really likes cheese and ice cream.” Damien shook his head and made an upset sound. “I’d hate for him to have an episode and murder someone. With technology the way it is now it would be on the news and then… Well… There are some very powerful wesen that do not wish for humans to know of us and will keep the wesen community secret at all costs…”

Robert had a feeling he was going to need to sharpen his machete again and make sure his other wesen killing tools were up to the task. “Please don’t tell me that this group of powerful wesen is the illuminati…”

“What? Of course not,” said Damien. “Well… one or two members on the wesen council might be, but I am not sure.”

“Wait, the illuminati is real?”

“Is what real?”

“The illuminati.”

“What about it?”

“...” Robert glared at Damien for a minute before barking out a laugh. “Ah, you with your jokes Dames. You want a drink? I think I have some wine somewhere… Val bought some.”

“That would be nice…”

Robert quickly retrieved a glass of wine for Damien and gave it to him. “Look, I don’t know much this wesen council thing, or the rules you wesen have to follow but I can promise you that as long as I’m alive and kicking I’m taking care of Maple Bay and every wesen in it. That includes Lucien.”

“… You really care about him that much?”

“Hey, I already saved his ass once.” Reminded Robert. “I seem to be making a habit out of that actually… Then again he did eat the bitch that fucked with my head so I guess we’re even now or something… Either way I saved his life once and I expect him to live a long life because of it. If some other bastard wesen is gonna try and cut it short I’ll cut their head off.” 

Damien laughed a little and drank his wine. He seemed a little more relaxed now, even if his laugh did sound a little more nervous than anything else. Probably because he knew that Robert was deadly serious about beheading other people.

Robert put his hand on Damien’s shoulder and gently squeezed. “Look, I know you’re scared and worried about him, but things are going to be okay.” Damien didn’t look very reassured. “Yeah, I don’t know if things will be fine, no one does. You just have to roll with the punches and keep on going. You’re both going to get past this. I know it.”

“… Okay.” He drank some more. “So… How do you know so much about wesen anyway? I know you’re a Grimm and everything but… How?”

Robert shrugged. “It’s all about observation. Us Grimm’s don’t sit down and talk with wesen… and you kind of turn back into humans when you die so… yeah. Honestly I just know the minimum about you… The only thing I really know is how to kill you all efficiently.” Sure it wasn’t the nicest thing to say, but it was true.

“… Ah… I see…”

“… So what kind of movie do you want to watch? Mary suggested a comedy. Want to watch something classic or something more modern?”

“I do not mind.”

“… Spaceballs it is.” In Robert’s mind no one could not laugh at the amazing Star Wars spoof that was Spaceballs. Master Yogurt? Dark Helmet? Princess Vespa? Pizza the Hutt? Genius. Mel Brooks was a genius. He put the DVD in and settled in next to Damien.

He seemed to enjoy the movie. The only time he got a little freaked out was during the diner scene that was paying homage to Alien. Scratch that, it was kind of a rip off seeing as how it was kind of a recreation of the famous chest burster scene from the original. But it was still funny when the baby alien stopped hissing and danced across the diner counter top while everyone looked completely stunned.

“It’s the same actor.” Said Robert. 

“Hmm?”

“The guy that had the Alien in him. It’s the same actor from Alien’s. That’s why he says; Oh no, not again.”

“Oh.”

***

The rest of the movie came and went. Damien seemed a lot happier now than when he first came over, which wasn’t surprisingly much. He wasn’t going to be able to fully relax for a while. This boy needed to smoke some weed or something. Mat seemed like he knew where to get some, though he didn’t know if he came to that conclusion because of racial profiling or because Mat was heavily into the indi music scene in Maple Bay. He was going to go with the music thing.

But here was the important question; would Mat be mad if he went over to his place and asked if he had pot? Would pot even have the same effect on a wesen as it did humans? He knew that some mushrooms and herbs that did nothing to humans could straight up kill a wesen. Life was weird.

Once the credits had completely finished Robert popped the DVD out and hummed a little to himself. “Do you want to see how I know what I know about wesen?”

Damien seemed surprised to hear this. “If you would like to show me I wouldn’t mind.”

Robert nodded a little and lead Damien up to his spare room. He had made a few improvements over the past few days. He now had an actual desk and a proper chair to go with his cork board. He also had a proper display case for his various bottles of powders and liquids, along with a wall mounted weapons rack for his most often used weapons. Most of which consisted of various knives and bludgeoning weapons.

Damien’s attention was immediately drawn to a ridiculously long triple-barrel rifle mounted on the wall. “… Is that a Siegabarste Gewehr?”

Robert chuckled a little and happily nodded. “Yep. Only thing strong enough to penetrate a giant’s skin, I mean Siegbarste’s skin. Besides maybe a bazooka.”

“Amazing… How do you have all this stuff?”

Robert leaned against the side of his desk and sighed a little. “My ancestors collected this stuff, wrote things down in journals and then passed it on to the next generation of Grimms… Grimm’s don’t always have Grimm children you know. Depending on how strong our genetics are we might not pop up in a blood line for generations. Causes trouble for poor kids if they find out they are a Grimm and no one’s around to tell them they are sane and not having a mental breakdown.”

Damien nodded a little and kept looking around the room. “I see… So what written material do you have?”

Robert took a journal out of the desk and passed it to Damien. “Not including my own one, I have two. I used to have ten, but I let Val keep eight of them. She’s younger than me, she needs them more than I do… When I eventually pass away Everything in this room is going straight to her. Books, weapons, the lot.”

The other male nodded as he flipped through the book. Robert had given him the older one. It was a lot more detailed and had a few more exotic European and Asian wesen in it. He was sure he’d find it interesting. Not the rather graphic descriptions about decapitation, but at least the wesen types and sketches should be good to look at.

“… Robert, may I borrow this?”

“No. They are too valuable to just be leant out. If you want to read it you have to come here.” His old man would punch him in the face if he just willingly let someone take one of the books. They were like the holy grail for Grimms and probably some wesen too. Take a Grimm’s journal and you essentially took away their main source of information.

“Oh, okay.” He sounded a little disappointed, but he understood.

They spent a fair bit of time in that room. Damien mainly asking questions about different things in the room and Robert spinning elaborate stories and tales about each one. Half of them sounded like they were stories he pulled out of his ass and the other half sounded really weird. Damien had no idea what stories were real if any, but he seemed to enjoy them none the less.

It was close to eleven when Damien called it quits and decided to head home. Unsurprisingly he was completely flustered and embarrassed that he had stayed over for so long. He insisted that he had only intended to stay till the end of the movie.

Robert rolled his eyes and kissed him. “You don’t need to ramble on and apologies for having fun. You needed this. There’s no reason for you to get all upset.”

“… Yes, you’re right…” Damien sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I just would have expected Mary to at least give me an update while I was out… What if something happened to them?”

“Relax, this is Mary you’re talking about.” He put his hands on Damien’s shoulders and smiled a little at him. “She probably wanted to give you time to relax and let your hair down… She probably also assumed we’d be screwing tonight or something.”

Damien blushed furiously at that comment. “That does sound like her…”

“Yeah… Either that or something really bad happened and she’d dead.” Unsurprisingly Damien did not look amused. “Just kidding. I’m sure everything is fine.”

“They better be, or I shall have to blame you for jinxing tonight.” He quickly kissed Robert and made his way back home.

Robert watched him go from the front porch. All in all tonight ended up being okay. Damien seemed to have an alright time, but if he kept getting all wound up like this the stress and anxiety was going to put him into an early grave. He would have to talk about to Mat about where to get pot soon.


	43. Mary has a meth lab?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I am back and mostly recovered! I am still on some powerful pain meds so the quality of this chapter might be a little weird. But hey, a few spelling/grammar mistakes never hurt no body... Que the people giving me examples of what that did end up hurting someone in the comments... Anyway, enjoy!

The next few days were relatively quiet for Robert. Pretty much the only time he got out of the house was to walk Betsy or to get food for Betsy when she ran out. That however changed when Mary came to his door. She had her hair tied back in a bun and had a few different coloured chemical and powders smeared across her face.

“Sup. I need a bottle of Jack.”

“... That’s my line.”

She rolled her eyes and quickly slipped past him, easily finding an open bottle on the shelf. She inspected it with a critical eye and nodded. “Right. This will do. Thanks Bobert.”

Mary was about to make her leave when Robert quickly caught her arm. “Hang on a second, what do you need it for?”

“Cooking up a little something for Lucien. Need something a little stronger than wine. Wanna come over?”

“Thought I was banned from the Bloodmarch house?”

“Shut up and come over. Lucien’s still stuck in the basement.” She linked arms with Robert and pulled him over to Damien’s place. She took him into the kitchen where it looked like she had set up a meth lab. She didn’t ease his suspicions when she put on a heavy apron, filter mask, goggles, and rubber gloves that went up past her elbows. “… What?”

“The fuck are you doing? Cooking meth?”

Mary rolled her eyes and poured the alcohol into a measuring cup, eyeing it carefully. “Not interested in making drugs. I was studying to be an apothecary before I threw that all in. I’m cooking up a wesen remedy for Lucien.”

“A wesen suppressant?” That seemed to be the most reasonable guess. At least to him.

“Kind of. It’s a very diluted one. It’s just a little something to make him feel a little less afraid of himself. Would you believe the more alcohol you add the less powerful this thing is?” She dumped the alcohol into a copper caldron on the stove and started stirring gently. “Now we just have to let this boil for ten minutes, cool, and then Lucien can start drinking this and feeling better.”

“… So it’s like a placebo you’re giving him?”

“Not really. More like giving him a quarter of a painkiller. That’s all.” She hummed happily as she stirred. “He’s pretty much back to normal now, but well… It’s better to give him something that works a little and adjust accordingly.”

Robert nodded and looked around at her set up. Everything seemed to either be made of copper or glass. “So, should I be wearing protective equipment or what? You’re all decked out in safety stuff.”

“Hmm? Oh, I always wear this when dealing with powders and liquids that irritate my skin. I’m no moron.” She quickly searched the counter top for empty bottles and a ladle. “So Dames was pretty quiet when he came back from your place the other night. Things go okay?”

“I guess. He was too worried about Lucien to really have a good time…” Robert knew from experience that too much stress wasn’t a good thing for anything. Damien would probably end up making himself sick at this rate and no one wanted that. “Think he’d go for weed?”

Mary seemed a little surprised to hear that but shrugged it off. “Dames smoking pot? Well we did partake in the wacky tobaccy way back when, but that was like at least ten lifetimes ago. Dames quit the stuff when he had a particularly bad trip. Why?”

“Thought that would be a good way for him to unwind.”

She rolled her eyes at that. “Rob, Dames doesn’t need drugs to relax. Personally I think he needs to get laid. I don’t think he’s been with someone not made of silicone since he transitioned.”

“… I did not need to hear that. Why did you think I needed to hear that? The fuck is wrong with you Mary?”

“Well one of us three needs to get laid around here damn it, and until those divorce papers are finalized it isn’t gonna be me!”

“… So you’re having the female equivalent of blue balls right now? Blue ovaries perhaps?”

“Blue balls is a myth perpetrated by guys that just want their girlfriends to suck them or jerk them off.” She snapped. “Jerk your own dick, damn it! The majority of your equipment is on the outside and freaking easy to use! I almost miss Joseph being an overly horny bastard some days… fucking ziegvolk.”

That got Robert to raise an eyebrow. Was this why she didn’t want to leave him? The sex was that good or something? He’d heard worse reasons people stuck around their spouse. “Is he that good in bed or something?”

“You fucked him too remember?”

“That time is a chemical fueled haze that I didn’t remember until Joseph brought it up. Even then I still have no idea what the flying fuck happened.” He glanced down at his hand, frowning at the tattoo there. He still had no idea how to get rid of it, or if that was even possible. Wesen magic wasn’t something that was easy to undo. “Anyway, apart from your own frustrations everything is going well for you?”

“Pretty much.” She started to ladle the liquid into the bottles. “Once this is done I’m seeing a lawyer and getting this all sorted out. I’ve been looking at apartments and stuff to rent. Don’t wanna bother Dames too much by staying here.”

“You can always stay with me,” suggested Robert. “I just have me and Betsy. Plus your kids would still be able to see you regularly.”

Mary shrugged. “I’ll keep that in mind. But whatever. I’ll think about it more when the time comes.”

“Okay.”

She smiled and finished bottling everything up. Mary ended up filling ten small glass bottles that couldn’t have contained more than a shot. She was also able to fill two large mason jars with the stuff. Obvious refills for the smaller bottles. Mary then started to rinse and wash up her equipment. She had a lot of stuff, but it didn’t look like she used all of it for whatever potion she was making.

While she was doing this, Robert picked up an old book on the bench and had a quick flip through it. It seemed that this was Mary’s recipe book for wesen remedies. It was pretty interesting to look at. It had everything from a cough cure to a cure for paralysis. Robert stood in the doorway and hummed a little and continued to look through it till Mary was done.

“Where’s Damien anyway?”

“He has a job you know.” She took off her protective equipment and let her hair down, letting out a huge sigh. “He could only take so many days off work to look after Lucien. But that hasn’t stopped him from messaging me every other hour to make sure Lucien is still alive and whatnot.” She picked up one of the bottles and gave it a quick shake. “… Stay up here and come down to the basement when I call you.”

“… Why do I feel like you need me to test something?”

“Because you are perceptive.” She walked down to the basement with the bottle in hand.

Robert stood at the entrance and looked down after her, frowning. He didn’t like being tricked into doing things. He hoped that she knew what she was doing.

***

Lucien perked up a little when he heard someone walking down the basement steps. He had half a mind to think it was his dad but it was probably Mary. It was probably too early for Damien to be home. He should have asked Mary for a clock or something.

There was a knock at the door and Mary happily opened up the window. “Knock, knock. You decent?”

He stood up and walked over to the door. “I guess. You know what would be nice though? Unchaining me and not standing outside the bathroom when I go to take a piss or have a shower.”

Mary rolled her eyes and slid a small bottle through a flap at the bottom of the door. “Drink this and then we’ll talk.”

Lucien picked it up and eyed it suspiciously. “Do I even want to know?”

“Just drink it. You ever done shots before? Just slam it back as fast as possible and try not to taste it.”

“… Right.” Lucien quickly swallowed the liquid Mary had given him. In seconds his mouth seemed to go dry and it tasted like he was drinking nail polish. He coughed and gaged. It was awful. Felt like he had just swallowed poison or something. His lips started to tingle. “… Should my lips be tingling?”

“Yep. Your mouth might also go numb and you might experience mild intestinal cramps,” she warned. “But if your lips just feel weird consider yourself lucky.”

“Right…” He slid the bottle back to her and leaned against a wall. “What now?”

“We make sure that this is working for you.” She turned her head in the direction of the stairs. “Hey! Get your ass down here!”

Lucien had no idea what on earth Mary was planning so he just waited. He didn’t like the way his lips were tingling. It was like he was suffering from a food allergy or something. Suddenly a faint smell filled the air. It smelt like cheap cigarettes and stale alcohol. Almost immediately he felt the hair on his neck stand on end and he backed away from the door. He knew this smell, he couldn’t pick exactly where from, but he knew it was dangerous and getting closer.

He quickly racked his brain, trying desperately to think of where he had smelt that before and why it was freaking him out. Every situation and scenario in his mind was surprisingly void of any reason for his fears. He suddenly felt very nauseous. If he was afraid of that smell but couldn’t remember why he had probably come into contact with it when he was experiencing an umkippen episode. That worried him. He had killed a hexenbiest and ate her. He’d gone and killed and eaten a bunch of other things too. Why did this scent scare his wesen side so much?

As far as he knew there could only be one thing that would truly scare his wesen side; a Grimm. Mary brought Robert over. Just realizing that, a small part of Lucien’s brain was screaming for him to get the hell out of there or get ready for a fight. Thankfully though it was a small part. Just a small part. His head was clear enough for him to realize that it was a stupid idea to try and attack him.

Suddenly Mary swung the door open. “And Lucien is… Still in human form! Told you I was good at this apothecary shit.”

Robert looked in and frowned a little. “Mary, his eyes are blood red.”

“Okay, so partial woge is better than full woge.” She walked over to Lucien and took a key out of her pocket and unlocked him from his chains. “Congratulation kiddo, you’re cured.”

Lucien was shocked to say the least. He didn’t feel cured. “Seriously?”

“Yep. I cooked you up a bunch of medicine, take a bottle every day when you get up, so you’ll be fine.” She lightly slapped his back. “Everything is all good now. Just keep that partial woge under control.”

“… Okay.” It seemed so surreal to be let out after a few weeks, but he was happy. He was more than happy, he was ecstatic, but there was no way he was going to get overly emotional in front of Mary or Robert. “… I’m going to call dad.” He quickly ran up the stairs to find his phone.


	44. Divorced

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey again everyone. Hope you all enjoy this chapter and please remember to like and leave a comment for those are the internet writer's bread and butter.

With the drama with Lucien being umkippen finally over with, Mary had to finally deal with Joseph. Despite her saying she wouldn’t talk to him without a lawyer present, she decided to have one final talk with him at The Coffee Spoon. She didn’t think he would do anything that crazy and manipulative in front of so many people. He wasn’t stupid.

She sighed a little as she stared at the fancy coffee art Mat had expertly poured into her cup. He had expanded past the standard leaf and started to experiment with animal faces. She was pretty damn sure that a white faced coffee rabbit was staring up at her. Mary dumped a spoonful of sugar onto it and made a huge hole in its head before quickly stirring. She did not like it when her food or drink had a face.

Today she had a game plan. She was going to set her terms down in front of him and let him know this was how things were going to be. She wasn’t going to back down on a lot of things, but she was flexible with one or two of her demands.

As she went over what she wanted to say Joseph sat across from her. To the untrained eye he looked just as happy and confident as ever, but Mary could tell he was anything but. She had been married to him for years and could easily read his body language. He was nervous and tired. Though it was a little hard for her to tell if he was physically or emotionally drained.

“… You look like you’ve seen better days,” she said calmly. “Kids keeping you up all night for a change?”

He smiled a little and nodded. “Crish is very fussy and doesn’t like taking his bottle… It’s kind of hard to take care of four young kids all by yourself.”

“Yep.” 

“… So Lucien is all better now? His unfortunate… illness… is no longer a problem?”

“He’s all better now. No more episodes.”

“That’s good. Good to know…” Joseph nervously fiddled with a napkin and looked around the place. “… Do you still want to go through with this? It just seems so… so extreme.”

Mary shrugged and sipped her coffee. “Joseph, our marriage was dead in the water for a while even before Chris was born. We were arguing back then and both teased the idea of a divorce before you left to sort out your dad’s will. You came back and we found out I was knocked up and we tried to make it work for Chris.” She drank some more coffee. “Then we argued again and you spent a few days on your yacht with a new friend of yours. Then you came back and found out I was knocked up with twins. Then it happened again wish Crish. We just keep repeating the same bullshit.”

Joseph frowned a little and took a little time to find the words he wanted to say. “Mary, you’re right…”

“… Come again?” She did not expect him to say that.

“Look, you’re right. We have sex, we fight, I leave, you end up pregnant, we promise to work things out and then we fight again…” He sighed sadly. “I don’t want to admit it, but I guess I just hoped that things would work out. That what we were doing, what I was doing would just magically stop… But I’m not the only one at fault here Mary. You had your part to play in this too.”

“Oh really now?” This was rich. She just had to hear what he had to say about this. “Explain.”

“We never would have gotten married if you didn’t agree to it.”

“Excuse me?” That pissed her off. “You blaming this whole mess on me now?”

He shook his head. “Of course not I just… We were young and stupid and well… We only got married in the first place because you got pregnant.”

Mary tensed up a little as she fought the urge to slap him in the face. “We don’t talk about that time Joseph. We said we wouldn’t…”

“I know, but it’s important,” he reached across the table but stopped just short of touching her hand. “We lost that baby. It’s no one’s fault… But having kids seems to be the only reason we tried so hard to stay together? You hated traditions and saw this as a big screw you to the rest of the wesen community that don’t like mixed wesen relations… And I was stupid thinking this would work. We aren’t good for each other, are we?”

Mary had to agree with him on that point. “We are the textbook reason high school and or collage sweethearts should think very, very carefully about getting together after all the school shit.” She drank some more coffee. “I want visitation rights till we find out who they take after more in the wesen department. If any are fuchsbau they deserve the right to live with me if they want to.”

“You want me to have primary custody of the kids?”

“Let’s face it, apart from your frequent trips to the yacht and coming back smelling like another man’s aftershave you’re a good dad. Me on the other hand, I’m kind of an alcoholic. I have to set five alarms when it’s my turn to take the kids to school, and you have to push me out of bed to check on Crish when it’s my turn.”

“I guess… Is there really no hope for us? Can I do anything to try and fix this?” Joseph looked like a kicked puppy. He seemed to really, really want things to work out between them. 

But Mary was smarter than that. She had done this song and dance one too many times. This was how things would usually go after their fights. They would talk things out and Joseph would try asking Mary what he could do to fix things. He would look so sympathetic and sorry for whatever stupid thing had happened to make them fight in the first place, even if Mary was the one who started the fight.

Her heart ached for him when he acted like this, but she stayed firm. “Joseph, you can’t fix this. We are going to get a divorce.”

“Mary please, think about the kids well being too.”

“I am. They’ll feel better growing up in separate houses where their parents are happy rather than one house where their parents quietly resent each other.” She finished her coffee and stood up. “My lawyer will be I contact with you soon. Be happy Joseph, you can fuck whoever you want now without me getting mad at you.”

She didn’t give Joseph the chance to respond. Mary was worried that if she did give him a chance to speak to her again she’d crumble away and let him back into her life like she had done too many times in the past. People would call her an idiot and a fool if she told the truth. She didn’t want to divorce Joseph. She still loved him. She loved him despite his infidelity. She was a fool. An idiot. A stupid little girl that never once made the right choice in her life.

***

Much to Robert’s surprise Mary didn’t feel like going out drinking that night. He had showed up at the Bloodmarch house hold and Mary was already in her pajamas. “Look Rob, I’ve had a shitty day,” she said quietly. “I’m just going to stay in, eat all the ice cream Dames has in the house and watch some sappy romance movies.”

“What happened?”

Mary shrugged and smiled sadly. “I had a talk with Joseph and well… I stood my ground, said everything I could in a polite way, but I really wanted to call him a cheating bastard and fucking whore…” She sniffled a little. “I’m such a fucking idiot… I’m a fucking stupid idiot…”

Robert did not expect her to start tearing up and crying right in front of him. He had never been good at this kind of stuff. Val could attest to that fact. “Hey, don’t cry Mary. You’re not an idiot or stupid.”

“Then why do I feel like getting a divorce is a huge mistake?” She asked. “Why am I regretting it all now after he pretty much agreed with everything I said? How could I still love a man that has admitted he’s a piece of shit garbage wesen?” She covered her face with her hands and sobbed. “I’m a fucking idiot.”

“Um, hey, it’s okay. It’s probably normal for someone in your situation to think that, right?” Robert had no idea what he was saying. He was just spewing out whatever came to mind and hoped that it made sense and comforted her a little. “You two have been married for years and have four kids. Four. Like you have to have some kind of deep emotional bond with him and yeah, it fucking sucks that he’s abused your emotions for so long but getting divorced is a good thing. You two can get your shit together and move on with your lives, right?”

Mary sniffled and tried her best to rid herself of the tears that were threatening to spill down her face. “I just… I keep making the wrong decisions… I should have left that night with you. Things would have been better.”

“You don’t know that Mary.”

“… I still wonder where my life would be now if I did run away with you that night.”

“Living it up in Europe if I recall what you said before correctly.”

“I’m being serious Robert…” she said quietly. “If I could do it all again I would run away with you. I’d leave everyone and everything behind and follow you wherever you went. Fuck the bigotry. Fuck the looks we’d get from other wesen. I never should have given that up for Joseph and all the years of hell we went through.”

Robert really had no idea what to say about this. She was just upset and stressed about everything that had happened. He knew she didn’t really mean it, well, most of it anyway. “Come on Mary. You have ice cream to eat and movies to watch, remember? You’ll feel better in the morning.”

“Yeah… You um, you have a good night… Don’t get too drunk and have to call Dames to pick you up or something. My special boy needs to catch up on his sleep.”

“You got it foxy lady.” He smiled a little at her and walked off towards Jim and Kim’s, but the closer he got the less he felt like drinking there. Tonight he was just going to go for a walk, and maybe knock back a few drinks at a few bars that he’d pass on his way.

He hadn’t seen Mary like that before. She was just so, so broken. Everything had just taken a terrible toll on her. It wasn’t fair on her or the kids. Joseph on the other hand, he could still fuck right off. If he was unhappy enough to cheat on Mary lord knows how many times he should have divorced her right away.

Robert ended up going to the local bottle shop and getting a bottle of white zinfandel before wandering down to the docks to drink. He would have gone up to the woods to drink, but he was tired of all the crazy bullshit that seemed to go on up there. There was only a handful wesen that he could think of that could be lurking in the waters and most of them tried to stay the hell away large groups of people.

The beach ended up being slightly closer than the dock so he sat down on the dunes and gulped down a few mouthfuls of his drink. It was refreshing. He wasn’t going to get black out drunk from this, but he’d at least get buzzed to some extent.

From here he wondered what his next move was going to be. Not just with Mary but with his life in general. Things were getting back to normal. Things were getting boring. He wasn’t going to have anything to do for a while. Hell, for days he had just sat around his house and did less than nothing. The only differences between here and Boston were that the wesen here weren’t hiring him for odd jobs and he wasn’t drunk off his ass half the time.

He chalked that up to Damien’s influence. He was good for him. Really good for him. Damien wanted him to be better the same way that Marilyn did when she was with him. He just had no idea what exactly he needed to do to get better for them. For Marilyn he had cut back on life threatening wesen jobs and the smoking. For Damien he would… Cut back on the drinking and smoking. After Marilyn’s untimely death he had doubled his smoking and tripled his drinking. 

As he considered if he should look into going to AA meetings someone suddenly sat next to him. Robert jumped a little but sighed in exasperation when he saw who it was. “Don’t you have kids to look after Joseph?”

The blond shrugged. “Carmensita is babysitting them tonight. My kids like her quite a lot.”

“I see…”

“Hmmm… so I guess you’ve heard about the divorce?”

“Yep.”

“Going to throw it in my face?” He asked. “Blame me for everything that happened?”

“Eh, kind of. You’re the shit lord that had to stick your dick into other people when you were fucking married you stupid prick.”

Joseph nodded a little, seemingly agreeing with him. “Us ziegvolk aren’t good at being monogamous. We tend to either be in polyamourous relationships or none at all. That’s just the way it is. I really thought I could make it work with Mary. She’d taken me back every time I had messed up before… Guess this time was just too much for her. Oh well.”

“… Oh well?” Robert was dumbfounded by his casual attitude. “Don’t you care at all?”

“I do care, but I’m a ziegvolk. We don’t do long term relationships unless we really, really have to. Our main drive in life is, to put it crassly, to spread our seed. It’s upsetting that Mary wants a divorce but on the other hand she’s right, now I can be with whomever I want without having to beg for her forgiveness after.”

“… Un-fucking-believable. You are the world’s biggest bastard.” 

“Say what you will about me being unfaithful and horrible but compared to some things that husbands will do to their wives, my infidelity is kind of minor.”

“Cheating on your wife is never excusable. You’re fucking married for a reason.” Robert did not want to argue about the sanctity of marriage with a guy who was supposed to be a damn youth minister. He was meant to know these things. If this was any other universe Joseph would be preaching to Robert about this.

Joseph sighed a little and shook his head. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand. Most people and other wesen don’t really understand my particular problem. Anyway, what’s done is done. Mary and I are done.”

“… Surprised you didn’t use any of your pheromones on her.”

He rolled his eyes. “When I was with Mary I only ever used it to enhance her experience. I could have very easily taken advantage of her, but I didn’t. I’ve done some morally dubious things in my time but that was a line I would never cross. Ever.”

“And what you did to me wasn’t completely fucked up?” Snapped Robert.

“Please Robert, we were drinking, you were emotionally damaged and I was very weak. Admittedly I remember more than you do, but I was drinking rather heavily too. You can’t hold this against me forever… Are you going to drink all of that yourself?”

Robert quickly took a few more gulps before passing the bottle to Joseph. “Keep it.”

Joseph nodded a little and took a drink, sighing contently. “So, how are things going with you and Damien? Still together?”

“We’re still together. Everything is fine between us.”

“You sure? It must have been stressful for him to deal with Lucien being umkippen. Mary would have made it easier, but it would have still been hard on him. You two wouldn’t have been able to spend much time together.”

“Why the fuck do you care?” Robert’s head was starting to feel a little dizzy. He was pretty sure it was the alcohol, but with Joseph being right next to him he couldn’t be too sure.

“You’re frustrated,” said Joseph. “I don’t mean to pry, but Damien is a little skittish around people at the best of times. So you can understand if I suspect he’s not meeting your needs.”

Robert did not like where this was going. “Look, I am used to screwing around a lot, but I’m not gonna cheat on Damien just because we haven’t jumped into bed after the first date. He had his own shit to deal with and I don’t need to deal with you being a piece of shit. I hate wesen like you.”

“Wesen like me?”

“Mind manipulators,” snapped Robert. “You guys just… I don’t like you. Mind altering bullshit I just… I fucking hate it.” He knew what he was saying didn’t really make much sense but he couldn’t help it. It was hard to string words together when Joseph was so close to him and producing the kind of pheromones meant to placate him.

Joseph seemed to notice Robert less than coherent thought process and at the very least seemed a little bit concerned. “Are you okay?”

“Fuck off. I’m fine.”

“No you’re not. Come on, up you get.” He grabbed Robert by the hand and pulled him to his feet. “Come on, let’s get you to a bed. Don’t argue with me Robert. Just follow my orders and do as I say. Okay? Just let your mind go blank and follow me.”

Robert knew this was a bad idea and it was obvious that Joseph we messing with his head again just as strongly if not stronger than he did at the bake sale all those months ago. Just like then he didn’t really have much control over himself when Joseph spoke to him. He quickly crumbled and gave into Joseph’s suggestions. He let his mind go blank and followed him wherever he went.


	45. The Next Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who is still interested in/ bothers reading this.

Robert woke up feeling a little nauseous. He felt like someone was slowly rocking him side to side, up and down. He sat up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. Dread quickly overcame him as he checked to see if he was naked under the covers. Thankfully he was not naked. He was still fully clothed apart from his shoes and jacket. Those were carefully placed on the floor next to him.

He quickly pulled those on and started to notice a few things about where he was. For starters there was some really stupid painting of a lighthouse and a whale on the wall, along with a framed piece of a map. That looked stupid to him. The second thing he noticed was that the sea was right outside the window, along with a deck. The deck of a boat. He was on a boat.

“Oh fuck this shit.” Robert quickly raced up to the deck, relieved to see that the vessel he was on was still anchored in the marina. He however was not happy to see Joseph lounging around on a padded deck chair, drinking what looked like a margarita. “You…”

Joseph looked over at Robert and smiled a little, raising up a second glass. “Morning sleepy head. I got one for you too. Don’t worry. It’s just juice.”

“What the fuck did you do to me last night?”

“Straight to the point. I like it.” Joseph set his drink down and sighed. “Let’s see; you were drinking and highly aggressive towards me, my pheromones went into hyper drive and you became highly suggestible. Fearing something bad would happen I took you to my yacht and made you sleep it off. My yacht was closer than the cul-de-sac at the time.”

“… Why do I have a hard time believing you? Didn’t you have a baby sitter looking after your kids? Carmensita right? What did you tell her?”

“I called Mary and let her know something had come up and I really needed her to go and look after the kids for the night. She seemed reluctant at first but I assume she still went there anyway since neither her nor Carmensita called.” He picked his drink back up and took a sip. “You sure you don’t want to have some? It’s a tropical fruit blend. I’m sure you’d like it.”

“… Yeah, fuck off I’m going home.” Robert quickly got off the yacht and jumped onto the pier. “And if I find out you’ve lied your ass off to me about what happened last night I’m cutting your balls off!”

Joseph chuckled a little as he leaned over the side of the yacht and waved. “Duly noted. Have a safe walk back home Robert. Let Mary know I’ll be home around midday.”

Robert could feel a shiver racing up and down his spine. He did not like the way Joseph was looking at him nor did he like the fact that Joseph seemed so casual about all this. He needed to do something about this and fast. Unfortunately the first thing that came to mind was to stab Joseph and use him as chum. He really needed to stop going to murder as his go to solution for every problem he had.

***

Robert felt like he needed to install a better lock on his door, or actually train Betsy to be a good guard dog. This was because Mary and Damien happened to be sitting on his couch. Betsy looked up from Damien’s lap and barked excitedly at his return and the two adults looked relieved.

“Soooooo, why are you two here?” He asked.

Mary shrugged. “Dude, Joseph said he found you blitzed out of your mind by the docks and dumped you on his yacht so you didn’t do something stupid and fall into the ocean and drown. Naturally I was suspicious and decided to mount a search party if you weren’t home by midday.”

“And Damien’s here too because?”

“He’s obviously the mussel of the group,” said Mary. “And he’s your boyfriend ya dingus.”

Damien shook his head and scratched Betsy’s chin. “Really now? I was worried about you Robert. Joseph is a ziegavolk after all, and considering his current marital status he’s more likely to do things he wouldn’t normally do.” Mary shot Damien a dirty look. “… More frequently.”

Robert sighed a little and massaged his temples. On one hand he was happy they cared for him so much, but on the other hand he sure as heck was not used to this level of care. “Look, he was a bit of a dick and tried to poke holes and asking if my needs were being satisfied with my current relationship like the asshole he is, but nothing happened. I woke up in my clothes, I didn’t taste anything weird in my mouth and as far as I could tell we were both walking fine.”

Mary seemed to take this news quite well, as well as a jilted ex-partner could take it anyway. Damien on the other hand, he looked pissed. Really pissed. Like worse than someone mixing up the Edwardian and Victorian era again. Even Betsy could tell something was wrong and quickly bolted from Damien’s lap just as he woged.

“Dearest Mary,” he said calmly. “What was the name of Joseph’s yacht again? I would very, very much like to pay him a visit.”

She rolled her eyes. “Dames, you’re not going to go and kill-”

“Damn right I am!” Snapped Damien. He really did look like he was going to at the very least attack the hell out of Joseph. “Mary that man is a disgrace to wesen kind! If he could not be monogamous he should not have married you to begin with! He is a user and a manipulator and has broken your heart more times than there are stars in the sky! And now he tries this with Robert? I am sorry but you’re going to be a widower.”

Far be it for Robert to not try and stop an inevitable murder, but Mary didn’t look like she wanted her ex dead so he’s intervene for now. “Hey, calm down Dames.”

“Calm down?” Cried Damien in shock. “Calm down? This man is just… He’s just… Look, I am okay with wesen being wesen and I always try to keep an open mind about our nature but no. This is unacceptable. He has to pay for this.”

Robert held Damien firmly by the shoulder and looked him in the eyes. “Damien. Go home. Calm down and think this over. Okay? I’m fine, nothing happened between us. Mary, go with him.”

She nodded a little and gently tugged Damien’s hand. “Come on Dames. Home.”

He seemed reluctant but agreed. “Fine… But I wish to speak with you about this later Robert.”

Robert agreed and watched the two of them leave. Once they were gone he looked down at Betsy and frowned at her. “We need more padlocks on the door. Maybe a security system too? You obviously aren’t a good guard dog.”

“Boof?”

***

Once Damien got home he immediately went and got himself a bottle of wine. Not a glass, a whole bottle and started drinking. He couldn’t believe Joseph would do such a thing. Mary obviously would have told him they were dating. Why would he do such a thing? Did he just think that because they were dating it meant nothing? He knew monogamy meant nothing to a ziegavolk but he had hopes that Joseph would have some respect for it since he was a youth minister.

It made his blood boil to think about all the what ifs that could have happened between them. What if Robert and Joseph kissed? What if they touched each other? How would they do it? Would their touches be soft and gentle or rough and passionate? How many times would they be together? Once? Twice? That angered him more than anything else.

Actually no. What angered him the most was that Joseph insinuated that his and Robert’s relationship was on the rocks or that Damien wasn’t meeting Robert’s needs. Did their relationship mean less because it didn’t revolve around the bedroom? Was it less valid because they didn’t try to jump each other whenever they got the chance? 

There were many times Damien would have loved to get into bed with Robert, but it was never the right time. Just feeling horny or wanting some kind of physical distraction didn’t warrant fornication in his book. He wanted it to be romantic. Perfect. Something special and meaningful. He was also still very anxious about his own physical appearance. Sure there were surgeries he could have done but they were ridiculously expensive and he really did not like the idea of getting cut up by anyone.

“Look, Dames…” said Mary quietly. “I know you’re pissed, but think about it… Joseph isn’t that bad of a guy…”

“Seriously? Mary he was a cheating, emotionally abusive asshole,” muttered Damien spitefully. “And he went ahead and accused me of not being able to satisfy Robert, and not even to my face? And then, and then he probably would have gone and tried to seduce him too and had his way with him.”

She rolled her eyes and took the bottle from Damien. “That would be his ziegavolk side. Look, just leave things be. He’s a little shit, but Joseph wouldn’t fuck him.”

“Oh really?” He was not a happy wesen. “Mary, you two were married and he fucked men and women who were also married or in relationships… granted fucked more men but you get my point. Why do you keep defending him so much?”

“We can’t all be heartless fucks like you!” She snapped. “Joseph knocked me up and he had the fucking balls to take responsibility! What did what’s his face do when he knocked you up? He turned tail and ran like a bitch. Joseph is a fucking man!”

“Oh so I have to anchor myself to a man that doesn’t know how to use a condom?” He snarled. “Am I really heartless? Really? I’d rather be single and heartless than a stuck up bitch who didn’t know when to pull her head out of her ass and leave a cheating bastard!” He regretted the words the second it left his mouth. 

Mary growled a little and clenched and unclenched her fists a few times. “I know you’re pissed off and everything so I’ll let this slide for the moment… But if you’re so piss off about sex and stuff, why don’t you calm down and go talk to Robert about it?”

He knew she was right. Lashing out at her about her life choices wasn’t going to make him feel better. He was mad at Joseph and to a small extent, Robert. Just because he was a Grimm he seemed to take a potential ziegavolk attack way too casually. He should know better. Were Robert’s past experiences with manipulators way more gruesome than others? 

“Soon.” He muttered. “I’ll talk to him soon… I need to calm down more… Sorry. I am not in my right mind… Jealous and rage do not suit my wesen type at all.”

“Very true.” Mary drank some wine and smiled a little at him. “Hey, we’re all stupid pieces of shit, some of us dumber than others… Wanna drink and watch trash TV till we feel better?”

“Yes please.”

Mary smiled a little and walked to the lounge room, quickly getting things ready for their trash TV time. Damien just smiled a little and sat with her. He would talk to Robert soon and sort this whole awful mess out. It would probably just end up being him ranting while Robert listened to him and eventually comforting him and quashing his insecurities. But he needed that right now.


	46. Bloodmarch drama

Despite drinking wine and watching TV with Mary, Damien was still quietly seething. On one hand his human side was telling him he needed to talk to Robert in a calm manner to get his feelings across, on the other hand his wesen side was telling him to find Joseph and drown the bastard in his own blood. If at all possible he wanted to avoid the violent option, even if it did kind of seem like the best idea to him right now.

As he went over the more violent thoughts swirling in his head Lucien happened to walk by and seemed to be able to just sense something was wrong. “Rough day?”

“How can you tell?” He asked with a small smile on his face.

Lucien gestured around the room. “Trash TV, two wine glasses, two empty bottles, and your mascara’s run a little, and Mary’s passed out on the couch. Looks like she’s gonna slide off soon…”

Damien glanced over at Mary and gently resettled her back onto the couch. “Today has been a little difficult. Help me clean up?” He watched as his son reluctantly turned off the TV and grabbed the empty glasses while he grabbed the bottles and attempted to lightly dab the mascara away with his sleeve. Regretfully that just served to ruin his shirt. He quickly retreated to the kitchen with Lucien quickly following him.

“So… want to talk about it?” Asked the younger Bloodmarch.

Damien hesitated a little but thought it might be a good idea to get a relatively neutral perspective on this. He’d just leave out the more intimate details. “I fear I am having relationship problems.”

“… What did he do?”

“Well he… It has to do with someone he slept with in the past…” muttered Damien. “I know this is a wildly inappropriate question for me to ask of you, but have you experienced jealous from… let’s say finding out whom your crush has been with previously.”

Lucien stared at him with a completely blank expression. “No offence dad but since I’ve been able to woge my head has been way too messed up to even consider crushes or dating anyone.”

“Really?” Damien found this unusual. He knew Lucien hadn’t shown any real interest in anyone while he was around but he had just assumed that it was just a teenage thing. “Oh, well… It was quite a silly thing for me to ask about anyway. Please just forget I mentioned it Lucien. How was your day?”

He shrugged. “School was school. Can’t complain much.”

“Did you skip class?”

“… Only art.”

“I thought you enjoyed art?”

“Teacher’s still on maternity leave.” Lucien began to look through the pantry for a snack. “The guy that’s in charge right now is a misogynist and a homophobe.”

“What did he say that was homophobic?”

“I wrote an essay on Da Vinci heavily implying that he was as straight as a spiral and he gave me a C and bitched to me after class about how I was wrong because Christianity and blah, blah, blah. Then he got mad when I pointed out at least five historical sources that implied otherwise.”

“Ah yes, history does tend to erase the LGBT community unless it positions them as a monster.” He grabbed a tissue and used the reflection in the toaster to clean his face, but it only served to give him raccoon eyes instead. “… Well then.”

Lucien looked over at Damien and chuckled a little. “Anyway, getting back to your problem with the Grimm. Like, I don’t know much about this kind of stuff, but if you can’t look past who he’s screwed in the past maybe you should consider dumping him.”

“I couldn’t do that.”

“Why not? Predator and prey wesen don’t get along. Like, I know we’re technically predators wesen but let’s face it Grimm’s are the predators to all wesen.”

Damien couldn’t deny that Lucien was correct in that sense, but at the same time it just felt wrong. “Logically speaking, yes. But Lucien we live in a very strange and random world where things just happen. Nothing is guaranteed. There are many examples of animals in the wild adopting and caring for other species. Humans for example enjoy looking after a variety of animals.”

He shrugged. “I guess, but still.”

“Lucien, I do believe that splitting our kind into predator and prey, though accurate, is kind of a racist mentality and one we should try to avoid.”

“… Didn’t this start off as a conversation about you getting jealous over someone the Grimm screwed years before he met you?” Asked Lucien. “How did we get to the segregation and racism is bad talk?”

“… It’s a parent thing. We turn our problem into small life lessons.”

“Well it’s dumb. Don’t turn this into a Shakespearian tragedy. Talk to him and communicate. Don’t be Othello and strangle someone because you didn’t talk to them.”

“I will. Don’t you worry… So is Hugo teaching you Othello now? Has he moved on from Poe?” 

Lucien nodded a little and started to make his way out of the kitchen. “Yep. If you need me I’ll be in my room.”

***

The young Bloodmarch had not expected to come home to his dad having awkward relationship problems, but then again they were probably having a few considering his condition a few days ago. He briefly wondered who Robert could have had sex with to make his dad so jealous even if it was years ago. 

His first thought was possibly Mary. That would definitely upset his dad but he didn’t feel like that was the case. It had to be someone close to his dad. Maybe it was Hugo? They were pretty close. No, that seemed pretty stupid. Hugo probably would have known that Robert was a Grimm in that case. Maybe it was Joseph? That seemed more likely. Even though he and his dad weren’t actually close, he was married to Mary, at least for the moment, and Mary was practically his aunt at this point.

Frowning a little, he picked up his phone and decided to give a rather grumpy hoodie gremlin a call. “Hey short stuff I got some questions for you.”

“Fuck you.” Snapped Ernest. “I have no idea what you think I did but I didn’t do it.”

“What? No… What did you do?”

“… Nothing you, my dad, or the FBI can prove. What do you want?”

“I need to talk love with you.”

He could hear Ernst drop his phone and swear and he scrambled to pick it up. “Me? Why the fuck would you ask me about that shit?”

“Dude, you’re more versed in all that romance shit than all the girl in the cul-de-sac combined. I know you love all that mushy romance shit. You have like that crappy John Green book about that cancer kid on your shelf.”

“The fault in our stars is not a crappy book. You shut your ugly whore mouth.”

“My point exactly. So you going to help me or am I gonna have to talk to Daisy about the deep psychology and reasons as to why we stupid beings do love things?”

“… Please tell me when you say love things you don’t mean fucking.”

“Dude, I am not going to talk about sex with a ten year old. What the fuck do you take me for?”

“A moron.”

“I am hanging up now.”

“Come on, you called me,” reminded Ernest. “So seriously, what’s up?”

Lucien sighed a little. “Okay, so more shit is happening with my dad and the Grimm.”

“Oh.” It was hard to tell if Ernest was relieved or annoyed to hear that. “You do know I have no actual experience with romance and stuff? I’m literally just pulling shit out of my ass here.”

“Just let me know if you can help okay? Is it normal to like get jealous of people your lover has been with in the past?”

“I guess it just depends on the person? Like if you actually love them it shouldn’t matter who they’ve been with before, right? But then again emotions are always rational things.”

“True.”

“Yeah… Just make sure those idiots talk to each other. Like most relationships end or get fucked up because dumb ass idiots don’t talk to each other. Like the thought of verbal communication is toxic or something.”

“Well, adults are dumb.” Lucien flopped back onto his bed and stared up at the grey ceiling with mild interest. “But I’m pretty sure that my dad and the Grimm are gonna talk this dumb shit out. My dad isn’t one to keep his feelings all bottled and shit when something’s really bothering him.”

“Whatever. Gotta get going. Hugo’s taking me to get my eyes tested in a bit.”

“You going blind?”

“Bitch please. I have 20/20 vision. It’s to see if I’m dyslexic or not, asshole.”

“They give glasses to dyslexics?”

“Yeah, the lenses are tinted and it’s meant to help you read or some shit. If my eyes aren’t fucked Hugo says I should consider getting tested for ADHD. Fuck off, like I have a choice in the matter…”

“Hey, whatever’s up with you it’ll be fine. However if it turns out you have a brain tumor that can’t be removed, then you’re kind of fucked.”

“Shut up asshole.”

“But seriously you’ll be fine. Call or text me when you get back. I feel like vandalizing some shit tonight.”

“Okay, later bat brain.”

“Later cow face.” He hung up and closed his eyes. Life was just one drama after another for the Bloodmarch family these days.

***

Damien knew he had to talk to Robert. There was no option not to. If he didn’t then there was no telling how quickly their relationship would deteriorate. He didn’t want that. Damien hadn’t felt this close to someone in a long time and didn’t want it to just suddenly end. He had considered looking up what the Victorian way of dealing with this situation was, but it quickly occurred to him that there probably wasn’t a protocol for his very specific situation.

He sighed a little and went out to his garden to gather a few choice flowers. He knew that Robert probably wouldn’t get the meaning straight away, but it was always easier for him to get his feelings across this way rather than words. They were also a good reminder for him if he got off topic. He’d just look at the bouquet and remember the points he needed to verbally get across. It kept him on track to an extent.

Before he left he quickly checked on Mary once more, she was still sleeping. He walked over to Robert’s house and knocked. He hoped he looked at least somewhat decent and not like a complete disaster. He considered that since Lucien had said nothing about his appearance that he looked at least acceptable to others.

Robert opened the door, smiling in that lazy manner that made Damien’s heart unintentionally flutter from time to time. “Hey Dames.”

“Hello Robert. May I please come in? We need to talk.”


	47. Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up folks, I am a very lazy writer so don't come crying to me when the thing happens. You'll know what you get to it.

“-And that is my reasoning for being so… So strange. I’m sorry.” Muttered Damien. During their conversation he had started to play with the hem of his cloak. It was embarrassing to talk openly with Robert about such things but it was something he had to do.

Robert listened to what Damien had to say and he honestly felt kind of bad. Of course this was in no way his fault. Things just happened in the past and there was really nothing much he could do about it. But it didn’t mean he didn’t empathise with him. He would probably feel kind of jealous too if he found out that Damien had slept with one of the neighbours.

“You don’t need to be sorry Damien.” Said Robert calmly. “You can’t help for feeling the way you do.”

“It’s childish of me. To be feeling this way though…”

Robert gave Damien’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “It’s fine. We’re all childish sometimes… Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?”

Damien thought about this for a moment, absentmindedly bitting his bottom lip. He seemed to be thinking this over very carefully. “Um… If it isn’t too strange for you… I would like to um… Could we perhaps in vertrautheiten?”

“Fair-what-ynt?”

A nervous smile graced Damien’s face at Robert’s pronunciation. “Vertrautheiten. It is one of the most sacred things a wesen can do. It’s a way to establish a bond and to gain trust between two different wesen species. It’s a way of memorising each other’s scents…” A slight nervous laugh managed to escape Damien’s lips. “I understand if you’re not interested since you’re not technically wesen and this is a very wesen thing to do…”

“No, go on. I want to hear about this. What does it involve? Is it kind of like getting married or something?” He was very interested in hearing about anything wesen. He was surprised that Damien hadn’t realised that by now.

“Um well you see, first you’d woge into your wesen form-” explained Damien. “-and then from there the two wesen would lean in towards each other and lightly rub up against both sides of the other wesen’s neck and face while memorising their scent. Kind of like how a dog nuzzles their owner’s hand… And I guess it’s kind of like getting married? Once you memorise the other’s scent it’s possible to smell it on other people and things so you could tell if someone’s been cheating on you…”

“… Did Mary and Joseph do that?”

The raven haired man shook his head. “I don’t think so. I believe Joseph was against it… But enough about them. This is about us… Will you do this with me?”

He looked so genuinely hopeful that Robert felt like he was going to be the bad guy for saying no. But this seemed like a really big commitment. Damien had said it was a sacred wesen thing. He was a Grimm. Did he really have a right to partake in this ritual? He didn’t think so, and other wesen would probably agree. But it seemed to mean a lot to Damien.

“… Okay.”

“Really?” He almost seemed surprised that Robert agreed to it. “Are you sure? It’s just some silly wesen thing…”

“Hey don’t downplay it. You said it was like a sacred wesen thing. If it makes you happy I’ll do it with you.”

“Okay…” Damien woged into his proper murciélago form. He seemed to blush a little and look away from Robert. Embarrassed by how he looked.

A small smile reached the corner of Robert’s lips as he tilted Damien’s face towards him. “No need to be embarrassed. I like how you look in your wesen form. I think it’s kind of cute.”

There was definitely a blush on his face now. “Now you’re just being cruel to me. My wesen form is quite ugly.”

“I’ve never thought that.” He pulled Damien into a hug, lightly resting his chin on his shoulder. He was unsure how the act of vertrautheiten started and really just needed Damien to lead the way. After a moment of apprehension Damien relaxed and gently started to nuzzle Robert’s cheek. It reminded him a lot like Betsy nuzzling his face when she was trying to wake him up. 

Remembering what Damien had said, Robert attempted to try and remember Damien’s scent. He doubted he would actually be able to do it, but he wanted to at least try somewhat. He smelled lake lavender and kind of just floral in general. There was a bit of spic too, kind of like cinnamon. It was kind of nice. They repeated the action when Damien moved to the other side of Robert’s face. It was a strangely intimate thing and Robert wasn’t sure if he enjoyed it or not.

Damien pulled away first looking rather flushed with embarrassment. “Um, that was a rather interesting experience. I haven’t engaged in vertrautheiten before… You probably didn’t feel the same things as I did since you aren’t wesen but it… Thank you.”

“…Does this mean we’re wesen married now?”

“…” Damien’s face quickly became bright red and let out a small high pitched squeak as he quickly shook his head. It hurt Robert’s ears a little but he could deal with it. “I-I um no. That is to say we are not, but in the old day it could be considered… B-but historically it was used more for alliances and a way to create bonds between different wesen… But I um… I guess it has also been used to establish r-relations between different wesen classes. A whole R-Romeo and Juliet kind of thing.”

Robert chuckled a little and gingerly put his hand over Damien’s. “No need to ramble Dames. I think I get it.” He did not get it, but if it meant he was able to get closer to Damien all the better.

“Yes well… Thank you. I’m happy you wished to do this after my emotional outburst I had earlier.”

“It’s okay. I’d probably feel the same way if I was in your shoes.” He brushed some hair behind one of Damien’s ears and smiled fondly at him. He must have been crazy. Hell he was pretty damn sure if any Grimm apart from his daughter found out he was going to get lynched, carved up and shipped across the country. Then again he was old, past his prime though he wouldn’t admit it. The last few Grimm cases in Maple Bay kind of proved that to him. He was starting to become content with slowing down anyway.

Damien smiled sheepishly at him and played with the zipper on Robert’s jacket. “Robert… I was thinking since we’ve been going out for a while and you engaged in vertrautheiten with me, perhaps you would like to engage in something else with me? Something that most wesen, Grimm’s and humans engage in and thoroughly enjoy?”

“Hmm? Sure. What did you have in mind?”

Damien’s bat ears twitched ever so slightly and a hint of pink dusted his face once again. “Well, since you do not like it when people mince words, but I have some difficulty articulating myself shall we meet halfway?”

“Okay?”

“… Do you have any condoms?”

Now it was Robert’s turn to blush, but a devilish grin quickly made its way onto his face. “My, my Dames. I was starting to think you would never ask.”

Damien rolled his eyes and quickly kisses Robert. “Oh hush now love. Bedroom. Now. I might be a little out of practice, but I’d like to think I’ll make up for it with enthusiasm.” Hearing that Damien was so eager to please, Robert couldn’t help but practically drag the wesen to the bedroom

***

The two lovers were sprawled out in the bed, panting heavily as the strong scent of sex hung in the air. Every part of their bodies completely drained and devoid of energy, Damien couldn’t speak for Robert but he knew that he himself was not used to doing this kind of physical and emotional strain. It was exhausting but overall exhilarating at the same time.

He stared up at the ceiling as he tried to get his thoughts into some kind of order. Unfortunately for him one main thought seemed to run through his mind; sex with Robert was amazing. He looked over at Robert just in time to see the other man’s eyes slide shut. He couldn’t help but feel a little bit of pride, not many would be able to say they were able to make a Grimm pass out the way he did.

Damien felt his heart flutter a little observing the scratch marks he’d left on Robert’s shoulders and chest. He was sure there were going to be more on his back. He’d marked Robert well and if any wesen came close to him they would know for damn sure that Robert was spoken for and vice versa.

He attempted to move just that little bit closer to Robert, quickly finding that Robert had definitely left his marks on his body just as well as he’d given Robert. His lower back ached in the most pleasurable ways that almost made him consider waking Robert up for a second round. He was pretty sure he would be up for it in a minute or two. He knew he was up for it.

He reached over to Robert, lightly touching his face. Robert was perfect. This moment was perfect. He would have been happy to stay in this moment forever, but alas that was not meant to be. He had things he needed to do eventually. Things like work, dinner, general dad duties.

His eyes suddenly went wide with realisation, he had completely forgotten about Lucien. Sure he was almost an adult and Mary was with him, but he hadn’t mentioned anything to them about being away for so long. What on earth was the time anyway? Where was his phone? Where were his pants for that matter?

He quickly looked around not really being able to see much from his position on his back. This was annoying. The delightful pain he had been relishing moments ago was now quickly becoming the typical pain one would normally experience after having very passionate sex after not having doing it for several months. He figured he’d probably be in similar pain if he ever decided to take Craig up on one of his many offers to go to the gym.

Sighing a little and lightly nudged Robert. “Robert, darling. I can’t find my phone. Help?”

The other male groaned a little and slowly opened his eyes. “… Why did you wake me up? I was having the most wonderful dream.” He looked over at Damien and smirked. “Okay, turns out it wasn’t a dream.”

Damien blushed a little. “Oh hush darling. I requires your assistance in finding my phone… I can’t recall if my pants were removed in the hallway or the bedroom.”

“… Did you happen to have dog treats in your pockets?”

“Maybe. I can’t recall. Why?”

“Betsy probably has your pants. Give me a minute…” Groaning a little Robert got up and casually walked out of the bedroom completely naked. Not that Damien was complaining. It means he could get another look at Robert’s body. Despite the years of self-destructing Robert still looked relatively fine. He felt blessed to think that Robert, as handsome and amazing as he was, actually found him attractive enough to look past his physical flaws. 

Damien hadn’t had many sexual interactions after coming to terms with who he really was and overall he hadn’t felt as though he was being treated like a man during those interactions. With Robert things had been kind of different. He didn’t feel like he was being treated completely like a man, but it was damn better than his other interactions. Hopefully they would be able to work on and improve on his.

He knew he had a stupid grin on his face at this point but he didn’t care. “Well, practice makes perfect.”

“What practice?”

Damien looked over at Robert and blushed a little as he walked over to him and handed him his phone. “Um nothing. Just talking to myself. Where was my phone?”

“In your pants. Betsy took them and ate whatever dog treats you had in there… Um, so I’m gonna shower now. You want me to run you a bath when I’m done?”

“That would be lovely. Thank you.”

Robert leaned down and kissed him before quickly heading off to the bathroom.

Once Damien was alone again he quickly called Mary. “Hello, Mary?”

“Hey Dames. Where the hell did you go? Also, I’m living with you. Why do you only have veggie nuggets in your freezer? I can’t live off tofu and facon.”

Damien chuckled a little. “Ah, yes. Sorry about that. End of the week and everything. I need to go grocery shopping tomorrow. Order a pizza for yourself and Lucien tonight. I doubt I will be coming home tonight.”

“… Oh? What happened? Did you actually go and kill Joseph and now you need the time to hide his decapitated corpse in various places around Maple Bay?”

“Well…”

“You serious?! You killed Joseph?! Holy fuck!”

“I’m joking.” Said Damien quickly. “Mary, no matter what my own feelings were at the time I shall not go and murder Joseph. The only times I would, would be if he harmed your children or you… Thought it is hard to tell with you since you seem to neglect your own mental health due to his psychological abuse.”

He could hear Mary sighing heavily over the phone. “Anyway, where the hell are you? You sound way more relaxed than you did last time we spoke… I am going to throw myself out your library window if it turns out you screwed a hooker.”

“Mary please. I would not cheat on Robert to relieve whatever mental stress I am going to… and to answer your question I am at Robert’s place.”

“Wait, you’re at Robert’s place, sound super relaxed, and you’re not coming home till tomorrow…” Amusement laced her voice, like a teen finding out their friend has a crush on someone. “Oh me, oh my. Damien are you getting some hot dick action tonight?”

“Mary!”

“Say no more. I shall not disturb you two. Wrap it up and have fun. Remember, the safe word is Saskatchewan and if you’re doing any food play, keep that junk out of any hole that isn’t your mouth hole. Bacterial infections are a bitch.”

“… Please do not give that kind of sex advice to your children. I fear your phrasing will scar them for life.”

“Nah, my little monsters are too young for anything more advanced than the no means no talk. I was thinking about scaring the crap out of Lucien for a bit.”

“Please don’t.”

“One second.” Mary moved the phone away from her face but Damien could still hear her very clearly. “Hey Lucien! Your dad’s out getting his pelvis smashed by his boyfriend. You want pizza for dinner or are you gonna thaw out the veggie nuggets?”

Damien sighed heavily and hung up. Mary was going to be the death of him.


	48. Gardens and books

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man it has been a while since I last updated. My bad. Got distracted by personal things and gosh darn Stardew Valley. Well hope you all enjoy this chapter. Kudos and comments are welcome and always appreciated :D

Looking at the back of his hand, Robert slowly traced the outline of his tattoo with his eyes. He still had no idea how to get rid of it, or even what Joseph’s motive really was for putting it on him in the first place. To be fair it was so long ago that he shouldn’t really give a damn about it anymore, but after finding out what went into the ink to make it he felt weird about it. Especially since it was information given to him by a hexenbiest.

She could have been lying to him, but he didn’t really see much of a reason why she would lie. There was a chance she could have been messing with his head, like she was planning to do all along, but she didn’t know who had given him the tattoo anyway. Then again she could have just been bullshitting him the whole time. He had contemplated asking Joseph about it, but that wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

Betsy jumped onto him and sat on his chest. “Boof!”

“It ain’t your dinner time yet. What do you want?”

She pawed at his chest a little before quickly running towards the back door. “Boof!”

“Oh… Right.” He opened the back door and watched Betsy skitter out to find a spot to pee. While she did that he took out a cigarette. He’d started to cut back little by little. He wasn’t smoking half a pack a day, more like a quarter or a third. Just another little thing Damien was helping with. He didn’t have to say anything, but just being with him wanted to make him stay around just a little longer.

He felt domesticated at this point, but he didn’t care. It was like when he was first with Marilyn. He was happy. He was starting to feel good about himself for days at a time and not just random minutes distributed to him arbitral throughout the weeks and or months. 

Speaking of the devil, said source of his happiness was wearing a comically large sunhat as they went about gardening in their own backyard. He looked quite pleased with himself as he carried garden tools over to some sad looking flower bush.

Robert smiled a little and walked over towards the fence and happily leaned over it a little. “What are you doing today?”

Damien smiled at him and started to prune back the dead twigs. “Just doing a little maintenance work on my day off my dear. Can’t let my precious darlings become overgrown and unkempt now, can I?”

“Um, I guess not?”

Damien hummed a little and continued to prune. “After this I have a few unfortunate casualties to remove and replant, blood and bone to sprinkle around, fertilizer too, and then I need to rake up and tidy any clippings on the pathway to put into the compost bin by the worm farm.” He gestured towards two black barrels by a shed. All of which were slightly obscured by some vines and bushes. He wouldn’t have really noticed if it wasn’t pointed out.

“Huh… So what do you get from a worm farm anyway?”

“Worm casting,” said Damien. “That is worm urine. It’s very good for plant growth and I feel it is very beneficial to my plants proper growth.”

“... Alright then.”

He laughed a little and slowly stood up, stretching a little. To Robert, Damien seemed to be happier these days. “Anyway, how are you Robert?”

Robert shrugged. “I’m good. You have any books on tattoo removal?”

“… This wouldn’t be the tattoo on your hand now would it?”

“Yeah…”

Damien sighed a little and shook his head. “Robert my dear, you can’t really remove a cursed tattoo like that. I understand if it bothers you, however…”

“I know. I just find it annoying… It’s something I never really thought much of but I really just want it gone. I’d rather not have something cursed on me, you know?” Plus there was that unsettling feeling of being marked and claimed by someone like cattle.

The raven haired man sighed a little. “Well, after I am done with my gardening I suggest we do some more research within my library. Mary might like to join us in our pursuit?”

“Yeah, how’s she going anyway?” He hadn’t seen Mary for a while and the last time he brought her up Damien had gone bright red and all embarrassed. It was kind of adorable, funny, and a little alarming.

“Ah, she’s going well. At the moment she is out looking at apartments and should be back soon.”

“Need to get her out of the house so we can have some fun?” Asked Robert with a slight smirk.

Much to his surprise, his words didn’t result in Damien blushing and looking away in embarrassment. Instead he smirked right back at him. “Well I have a few interesting tricks and toys stowed away in my room that I would very much like to try out on you. If you think you can handle it.”

Now it was Robert’s turn to feel the heat of a blush washing over his face. “… Damn Dames, you trying to get me all riled up already? You just said Mary was going to be back soon and when does Lucien get back from school?”

“Much later my love, but what I plan to do to you, I would like to have a full day with you, alone… Perhaps a weekend?” 

“Well now you’re just being a tease.”

Damien chuckled a little and went back to his gardening. “I shall be done in about an hour and a half my love. Feel free to come over then.”

“Can do.”

***

Later that day Robert surrounded himself with books in Damien’s library. The man himself had gone to get tea for them all to enjoy. Mary had turned up just as Robert was coming over and was more than happy to help with the research, and to also brag about her new place.

“So it’s all set up now.” She said happily. “Ten minute drive and it’s so much closer to the bay now. It’s big enough to have two bedrooms and I’m gonna get some blow up mattresses and one of those fold out couches for the kids to sleep on when it’s my weekend.”

“Sounds like you’re all ready to go.” Muttered Robert as he flipped through yet another book.

Mary pouted and lightly hit the top of his head with a book. “You can’t get rid of me that easily kid. I still have shit to pack and stuff to deal with. Mainly child related.”

Damien smiled a little and poured them tea. “You are always welcome in my home Mary.”

“Nah, wouldn’t want to keep imposing on you like this Dames.” She took a tea cup and sipped. “You’ve put up with my annoying ass for long enough…And you stuck yourself with this arguably more annoying asshole.”

Robert frowned. “Hey he chose me.”

Damien had to agree with that statement. “It is unfortunate, but yes. I chose him.”

“… The fuck do you mean unfortunately?” Whined Robert. Everyone was ganging up on him for some reason. “This is Grimm prejudice damn it!” The two wesen laughed and continued with their research and so did Robert. Robert didn’t really find too much in the way of tattoos as they pertained to him. There were things about tattoos, but they were mostly specific tribal ones that correlated to very specific wesen groups.

Finding the lack of information annoying he couldn’t help but sigh in exasperation. “Fuck. Is there nothing on cursed tattoos?”

Mary shrugged. “We’d have better luck if we could look in a Zaubertrank recipe book, since it’s all kind of Hexenbiest related and stuff.”

“… So did the hexenbitch that tried to fuck me over have one of those?”

The two wesen shared a look before Damien shook his head. “We do have one but unfortunately it is useless without hexenbiest blood… If zauberbiest blood was possibly useful we could have asked Neil to give us a drop or two.”

This was news to Robert. “What? Since when was Neil a zauberbiest?” He felt completely out of the loop here.

Mary rolled her eyes. “He’s the main reason we found you in the first place you moron.” 

Robert frowned and decided to see if he could find anything to do with hexenbiest’s. Although they were very well known and pretty much all wesen and even normal humans knew what they could do, their methods were always shrouded in mystery, which really annoyed him. Damn those creatures and their secrecy. 

As he flipped through one book about homeopathic remedies, he felt his hand start to tingle. Naturally he assumed it was just the onset of his arm starting to go numb, so he absentmindedly changed which hand he was holding the book and flexed his hand. He had to get the blood flowing again if he wanted to avoid getting pins and needles.

Despite his best efforts to avoid it, he still ended up getting painful pins and needles in his hand, concentrating around the area between his wrist and the joint where his thumb connected to the rest of his hand.

Without really thinking he put down the book and tried to massage the aching muscle, only to be rewarded with pain racing across his skin and down his wrist. Robert yelped in a mix of surprise and agony and looked down at his hand, shocked to see that his tattoo looked like it was blistering. Mary and Damien quickly took note too and quickly dragged Robert into the bathroom to blast it under cold water.

“The fuck is this shit?” Asked Mary. “Dames, go get some ice.”

“Already on it!” Called Damien as he ran past the bathroom and down to the kitchen.

Robert muttered many, many curses under his breath as the blistering pain eased slightly in the cold. “… Okay, this is new. Fucked up, and new. Fuck.”

Mary nodded a little and glanced down the hallway. “Yeah… Maybe we should consider going to the source?”

“An actual hexenbiest?” He asked. “Mary, the only hexenbiest we know got eaten by Lucien.”

“No dumb ass, I meant Joseph. Just beat the crap out of him till you get an answer.”

“… You don’t want me to kill him but you want me to beat him up?”

Mary shrugged. “I have a lot of emotions I need to work through. Some days I love him and get all depressed. Other days I just want someone to punch him in dumb his smug face. Today happens to be a punch him in his smug face day.”

“… Alright. I’ll go and punch him in the face then.”

Damien quickly turned up with a bag of ice and gave it to Robert. “Do you have any idea what caused this my love? “

Robert took the ice and gladly put it on his hand. “I’m good… Just going to go and punch the hell out of Joseph to get more information out of him about my tattoo, as per Mary’s instructions.”

Damien frowned and gave Mary a disapproving look. “Really Mary? You want Robert to attack Joseph?”

“And you wanted to turn him into chum when you found out Joseph and Robert fucked. Calm the fuck down. No one is a saint here.”

Damien looked like he was about to say something to retort her, but instead paused and quickly rethought what he was going to say. “… Alright. If that is your plan, allow me to come along with you Robert. My abilities as a wesen could be very useful in this endeavor.”

Robert blinked a little in surprise. He wasn’t too sure if Damien was serious or not. “We’ll talk the details in a bit. Once my hand has calmed down a little bit more.” He wasn’t actually planning to attack or maim Joseph unless he actually had to, but considering how his few interactions with the man had gone so far, Joseph was probably going to get punched at some point.


End file.
